
Class. 
Book 



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Gop>TightN^__ 



COPVRIGHT DEPOStr. 



AMERICAN HISTORY 
FOR SCHOOLS 



BY 

R. B. COUSINS 

PRESIDENT THE WEST TEXAS STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 

AND 



J. A. HILL 



PROFESSOR OF HISTORY 
THE WEST TEXAS STATE NORMAL COLLEGE 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



EI72 

,1 



COPYRIGHT, 1913 
BY D. C. HEATH &; CO. 



All rights reserved 



©CI.A35 1794 



PREFACE 

In the preparation of this book the constant endeavor has been to 
hold the student to the proper view point of history and thus promote 
his progress toward two definite and most important achievements. 

(i) The possession of well organized knowledge of the origin and 
character of the institutions which affect his life is of high value to every 
citizen. But well organized historical knowledge will not be attained 
if there is absence of organization in the study; while the spiritual value 
of the subject may remain undeveloped if organization rests upon a 
mechanical basis. 

If only those who understand our country's history as a development 
can respond with full and intelligent obedience to society's demand for 
a citizenship which appreciates the worth and sympathizes with the 
nature of her institutions, then there is ample justification for following 
the threads of national thought and feeling which have become the warp 
and weft of our institutional life; accordingly, we have endeavored to 
build upon the one fundamental thought of progress and thus show the 
unity of American History. 

(2) We have had another, and it seems to us a most important aim: 
that of leading the student through mental discipline to strengthen his 
native powers. To this end we have sought to induce him to think and 
to feel as well as to remember. The educational value of that kind of 
history teaching which exercises only the memory is exceedingly doubtful. 
It is too often supposed that the high school student is incapable of 
interpreting the events of history and that a book which seeks to follow 
the unity of a people's life in their thought and feeling is too difficult for 
his use. Yet a student who is capable of understanding Burke's Con- 
ciliation as a piece of English literature is also able to understand it 
as a source of historical knowledge and inspiration. The student who 
exercises in the study of History the degree of intellectual effort that is 
ordinarily employed in the study of Latin or of Algebra, finds opportun- 
ity on every page, and earns reward both abundant and sure. It has, 
therefore, been our constant aim to provoke thought, and it is hoped 
that the teacher into whose hands this book shall fall will prevent the 
student from forming the habit of simply memorizing external facts. 



iv PREFACE 

WTien our students shall be made to feel the uplifting influence of the 
motives and impulses that have urged the American people to national 
independence and toward individual freedom, much will have been done 
to make secure the future of our common country and to guarantee the 
personal happiness and efhciency of its individual citizens. 

We acknowledge with grateful appreciation the assistance of Prof. 
H. W. Morelock, who so kindly aided us in the preparation of our refer- 
ences, and of Mrs. R. B. Cousins, who has patiently worked out the 
details of our military life, and who has given many valuable suggestions 
and helps throughout the entire work. 

Canyon, Texas, THE AUTHORS. 

July, 1 913. 



CONTENTS 

PART I. — INTRODUCTION 

Chapter Page 

I. The European Background i 

The Forces of Heredity i 

The Middle Ages 3 

The Beginning of the Modern Age 7 

The Anglo-Saxons 12 

II. The New World 14 

Physiographic Conditions 14 

The Natives of North America 19 

The Barbarous Indians 25 

III. Discovery and Exploration 29 

Incentives to Enterprise 29 

Voyages of Discovery: the Spaniards 32 

The French 36 

The Portuguese 37 

Exploring the Continent 38 

Claims to America 41 

French Efforts at Settlement 42 

Spanish Efforts at Settlement 42 

The English Rovers . . .' 44 

English Efforts at Settlement 45 

PART II. — THE BUILDING OF FREE LOCAL INSTITU- 
TIONS 

IV. The Southern Colonies 49 

Virginia 49 

Maryland 60 

V. The Southern Colonies (Concluded) 65 

The Carolinas 65 

Georgia 71 



W 



vi CONTEXTS 

Chapter Pace 

VI. The MroDLE Colonies 76 

New York 76 

New Jersey 83 

Pennsylvania 85 

Delaware 88 

VII. The New England Colonies 91 

Attempts at Settlement 91 

Conditions in the Mother Country 92 

The Pilgrims 94 

The Massachusetts Bay Colony 97 

Rhode Island 102 

Connecticut; New Hampshire; Maine 103 

The New England Confederation 104 

General Conditions in the Colonies 109 

VIII. New France 115 

The Traders and Trappers 115 

Missionaries and Explorers 117 

Colonial Wars 122 

The Border Struggle 124 

The Seven Years' War 128 

IX. Colonial Conditions in 1760 135 

The Foundation of Free Local Institutions 135 

X. Causes of ihe Revolution 146 

Colonial Development 146 

Material Interests 140 

Governmental Relations 151 

Oppressive Measures 154 

The Rights of Man 157 

XI. The Revolutionary War 169 

Separation and Autonomy 169 

Washington's Campaigns: 1775-1777 ^7^ 

The Hudson River Campaign: 1777 179 

The Philadelphia Campaign: 1777-177S 181 

The War in the South 186 

Virginia Campaign: 1781 196 

The War in the West i97 



CONTENTS vii 

Chapter Pace 

XII. The Formation of a General Government .... 205 

Early Tendencies Toward Union 205 

Tendencies of the Revolution 206 

Working Out a Form of Government 208 

Weakness of the Confederation 214 

The Constitutional Convention 217 

PART III. — THE NATIONALIZING PROCESS— 1789-1875 

XIII. A Conplict of National Ideals 225 

Internal Factors in the Centralizing Process 225 

External Factors in Centralization 237 

The Decline of the Federalists 244 

XIV. Growth Toward Stronger Union 250 

Jefferson's Policies 250 

Adjusting Old Theories to New Conditions 252 

Foreign Complications 259 

The Second War for Independence 265 

Monroe's Administration 272 

XV. The Rise of Sectionalism 280 

The West 280 

Slavery 282 

The New School of Statesmen 288 

XVI. The People as President 297 

Western Democracy in Person 297 

Jackson's Fiscal Policy 304 

National Progress and Sectional Interests 309 

XVII. Slavery and the Constitution under the State 

Rights View 313 

The Constitution and Slavery 313 

Slavery Considered Economically 315 

Slavery Considered Morally 319 

The Quality of the Union 326 

XVIII. The Far West 330 

The Whig Rule of the Early Forties 330 

Texas and Oregon 353 

War with Mexico 340 



v 



viii CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

XIX. The Rise of the Republican Party 353 

The Disorders in Kansas 353 

Campaign of 1856 358 

Continued Struggles Over Slavery 360 

Secession 366 

The Confederate States 372 

XX. War Between the States — 1S61 376 

War Policy of Lincoln 376 

Beginning of War 380 

Federal Advance in \'irginia 384 

XXI. The Strategy of the War 392 

The Blockade 392 

The Blockade of Southern Ports 393 

The Blockade of Atlantic Ports 402 

XXII. Strategy of the War: West 407 

Operations for the Control of the Mississippi 407 

The Vicksburg Campaigns 411 

The Chattanooga Campaigns 416 

XXIII. Strategy of the War: East 422 

Operations against Richmond 422 

Combined Operations against Richmond 432 

Campaigns in Georgia and Tennessee 435 

The Closing Campaigns ^ 436 

XXIV. Reconstruction — 1 865-1 S76 446 

Opposing Policies 446 

Johnson vs. Congress 451 

XXV. Reconstruction (Concluded) 459 

Struggle for Home Rule in the South 459 

National Elections — 1872-1876 462 

Foreign Relations 466 

A Fitting Close of the Era 467 



CONTENTS ix 

PART IV. — DEVELOPMENT UNDER A RESTORED 
UNION 

Chapter Page 

XXVI. New Industrial and Political Ideals 471 

A Brief Inventory 47 1 

Currency Problems 476 

The Civil Service 482 

Economic Conditions Reflected in Politics 486 

XXVII. Government for the People 492* 

Public Office a Public Trust 492 

Labor and Commerce 495 

Labor and Capital 498 

The Railroads 501 

The Election of Harrison 504 

XXVIII. Government for the Party 507 

Republicans Reverse Cleveland's Policies 507 

Blaine in the Limelight 512 

XXIX. A New Crisis 517 

Economic and Social Troubles 517 

Economic Problems 521 

Foreign Complications 522 

The Silver Campaign of 1895 525 

XXX. The Spanish-American War 53 1 

Conditions in Cuba 53 1 

The Philippines 534 

The West Indies 536 

The United States a World Power 539 

XXXI. The New Democracy 544 

Roosevelt and Conservation 544 

The Panama Canal 548 

The Problem of the Corporations 552 

The Tariff 557 

Currency and Banking : . . . . 561 

The Peace Movement 562 



X CONTENTS 

Page 

Appendix i 

I. Declaration of Independence i 

II. Articles of Confederation v 

III. Constitution of The United States of America xii 

IV. Growth in Territory and Organization xxv 

Index xxix 



LIST OF MAPS 

Page 
Natural Features and Native Tribes of the United States. . . 16-17 

Trade Routes in the Middle Ages 30 

Toscanelli's Map, 1474 31 

Lands Discovered by Columbus 34 

Map Showing Jacques Cartier's Voyages 37 

Map of Early Voyages 39 

Map of De Soto's Route — 1 539-1 542 41 

European Claims in 1600 47 

Virginia in Early Days 50 

European Colonies — about 1650 iii 

Map to Illustrate French Explorations 121 

Route of Braddock's Expedition 127 

Map Showing French and English Forts 129 

Central North America in 1755, before the French and Indian 

War /(2f '«g ^32 

Central North America in 1763, after the French and Indian 

War '. f dicing 132 

Reference Map for the Revolution: Northern and Middle 

States 4 facing 1 78 

Reference ISIap for the Revolution: Southern States. facing 188 

Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States in 1783 . . facing 210 

Route of Clark and Lewis 256 

Route of Zebulon Pike 257 

Map of the United States in 18 10-12 / facing 262 

Reference Maps for the War of 181 2 267 

Route of the National Road 281 

Map of the United States in 1825 between 290-291 

Map of the Mexican War 342 

Territory acquired from Mexico as the result of the Mexican 

War facing 344 

Sketch-Map of Forts in Charleston Harbor 367 

Map of the United States in 1S61 facing 370 

Manassas Battlefield 389 



xii LIST OF MAPS 

Page 

Reference Map for the Civil War between 390-391 

Map of the \'icksburg Campaigns 413 

Map of Hampton Roads, Virginia 424 

Position of the Army of the Potomac at Harrison's Landing, 

Va., 1862 427 

Map of Campaigns in Virginia 428 

Texas Coast, Showing Points of Occupation under Gen. N. P. 

Banks, November, 1863 440 

Territorial Growth of the United States, 1 783-1867 betzvecn 464-465 

The Westward Movement of Population 477 

"The Crossroads of the Pacific " 540 

Irrigation Centers of the West 546 

National Forests 547 

The Route of the Panama Canal 551 



AMERICAN HISTORY 

part I 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER I 
THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Adams, Civilization during the Middle Ages, pp. 
364-391; Symonds, A Short History of Renaissance in Italy; Cheney, European 
Background of American History; Schwill, Political History of Western Europe, 
pp. 1-43; West, Modern History, pp. igi-224; The Cambridge Modern History, vol. i; 
Thatcher and Schwill, Europe in the Middle Ages, pp. 583-657; Robinson, History 
of Western Europe, pp. 250-276, 321-464. 

Sources. — Robinson, Readings, vol. i, chaps. 19 and 22; Ogg, Source Book of 
MedicEval History, pp. 445-477; Pennsylvania, Translations and Reprints, vol. i. 

Illustrative Material. — Kingsley, Westward Ho; Moore, Utopia; Irving, 
Columbus. 



THE FORCES OF HEREDITY 

Since the day in which the discoverer incited the whole world 1. The 

Ameri 
spirit 



to enterprise, wonderful progress has been made in the arts e"can 



and in the sciences by the nations that are still European, of 
whose advancement there seems no end. Yet the distinctively 
modern man, the man in whom European ancestry and a New 
World environment have combined to develop self-reliance, and 
whose self-reliance has developed the sense of freedom and of 
power, is the American. 

In America more than elsewhere, men take hold of new under- 
takings with self-confidenc?, drive to the goal with relentless 
energy, enjoy victory, scorn defeat, and fill their days with 
accomplishment. 



.2 THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

Having built institutions singularly free from the influence 
of servile tradition, the American resents with deepest anger 
any attempt to curtail his liberties. Sometimes, indeed, he 
sleeps with the enemy dangerously near, but when once aroused 
he fights with a vigor and an intelligence in such combination 
as the Old World does not know. His spirit of free initiative 
has been so tremendously exercised that the word American 
has almost become the synonym of radicalism in the vocabu- 
lary of nations. And, indeed, the vocabulary is not greatly in 
error. For after all, the difference between the diverse peoples 
of Western Europe and their composite descendants in America 
is a difference more of degree than of quality. 

2. Ancestry The primary factor in the development of the American, in 
character both time and importance, is the people from whom he has 

sprung. The men and women who first settled in Virginia and 
New England, as well as many of those who have since come 
to America, brought with them very small cargoes of perishable 
goods. But if their material wealth was small, their mental 
endowment was sufficient, and they were rich in those elements 
of character which form the basis of free and enlightened 
government. 

In order to understand these people and the impulses which 
they gave to their descendants, it is necessary to know the 
European conditions out of which colonial life in America 
proceeded. 

3. Making a In the Middle Ages a new man was being prepared to under- 
new man ^^-^^ ^-^^ enlargement of the known world — both in the physical 

and in the intellectual sense. Indeed, by the beginning of the 
fifteenth century this new man had attained his majority and 
had assumed responsibility for the progress of the world. The 
discovery of America, and the building of a great civilization 
upon the new continent, is his most important achievement. 

4. The The Middle Ages opened with three great constructive forces 
ckssl/""^*^^^' ^^ ^^'°'"^- Greece and Rome had finished the work of giving to 
culture mankind their highest conceptions of literature, art, science, 

philosophy, law, and political organization — the combined 



THE MIDDLE AGES 3 

force that is now called classic culture. During the medieval 
period this force was gradually drawing the barbaric German 
invaders into the current of civilized life, and was furnishing 
them new ideals of beauty and organization which they were 
eventually to use in building anew upon their own ideals and 
institutions. 

Moreover, Christianity had become well established at the 5. Chris- 
opening of this period, and was slowly at work wearing away*'*'"*^ 
the severities of paganism and substituting for its gloomy and 
mystical future reward the promise of love and hope. It held 
before the ignorant and superstitious barbarian two pictures: 
on the left, an abode of darkness where there was weeping and 
gnashing of teeth to all eternity; on the right, a heaven free 
from all care, all sorrow and labor, supremely beautiful, and 
overflowing with everlasting happiness. 

The third factor at work during the Middle Ages was the 6. The 
Teutonic race. Ignorant, superstitious, and destructive, the!^°™°^ 
Teuton was yet plastic, energetic, and virile. Inferior in past 
accomplishment, he was strong in possibilities. Having created 
little, he was nevertheless capable of creating much; for his 
mind sees no limitations, except to recognize their recession in 
proportion to his progress. It was the task of the Middle 
Ages to put him in possession of so much of classic and of 
Christian culture as would enable him to take hold where the 
Ancients left off, and carry a long way forward the material, 
intellectual, and spiritual standards of mankind. 

THE MIDDLE AGES 

It required a thousand years for these three forces, working?. The man 

together, to produce the new man. And in truth, the outlook ^^*^f . 

" ^ . . . Middle Ages 

was not at all times promising. In the first few centuries of 

the medieval period, much of the ancient culture was for- 
gotten, and much of its work destroyed, because the barbarian 
was incapable of appreciating or even understanding it. Art 
perished, science was corrupted by base and superstitious 
practices, the Greek language and Uterature were forgotten, 



4 THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

violence wrought the destruction of property and of life, land 
and other forms of wealth were concentrated in the hands of 
the few, public improvement ceased, roads and bridges fell 
into decay, commerce and industry languished, cities declined, 
intellectual life became stagnant, and enlightenment seemed 
about to vanish from the earth. The Church had acquired 
a majestic importance in the eyes of the people ; and both 
spiritually and intellectually they were its subjects. Society 
became stratified, education fell exclusively into the hands of 
the Church, and government was exercised by right of might. 
The great mass of mankind groped about in ignorance and 
superstition, accepting as inevitable a life bound in shallows 
and in chains. George Burton Adams says of the man of the 
Middle Ages: "He was only a part of a great machine. He 
acted only through some corporation, the commune, the guild, 
the order. He had but little self-confidence and very little 
consciousness of his ability single-handed to do great things or 
overcome great difficulties. Life was so hard and narrow that 
he had no sense of the world around him, and, as if this world 
were not dark enough, the terrors of another world beyond were 
very near and real. He lived with no sense of the past behind 
him, and with no conception of the possibilities of the future." 

8. Material It will be remembered that when the barbarians invaded the 

and social Roj^an Empire, life and property became so insecure that it 
conditions ' r i j . i . 

was a common thing for the small landholder to commit him- 
self and his possessions to the protection of a wealthy land- 
lord or an able military chieftain, retaining the right to occupy 
the land indefinitely, and claiming from his master security 
from the lawlessness and violence of the time. In turn, he 
placed his services at the disposal of his chief, and became his 
man. This custom, together with perhaps other influences, 
resulted in the formation of two classes of society — the noble 
and the serf. 

9. The life It will be remembered, also, thtit the baron eventually took 
of the baron j^jg ^x.d.\\d on some high and inaccessible hilltop, and there 

erected his castle after the fashion of a fort; that he spent most 



THE MIDDLE AGES 5 

of his time in hunting and fighting, while depending upon his 
serf, both for the cultivation of his lands and for military sup- 
port against the avaricious and intemperate representative of 
chivalry whose castle frowned from the neighboring hill; that 
all this produced a state of continual warfare on the one hand, 




A Medieval Castle in France 

and on the other erected a social organization based upon wealth 
and military prowess; that the noble lived in luxury and in 
ceremony at the expense of men lower than he, and in disre- 
gard of their interests; and yet that life was not very comfort- 
able even for him. The constant dread of a hostile army, 
continuous imprisonment, as it were, in a dark and dungeon- 
like castle, which even the warmth of summer could scarcely 
penetrate, and which was not built for comfort or convenience; 
the necessity of wearing cumbrous armor, or shirt of mail, 
even within his castle, lest he be struck down by some faith- 
less villein — all these things must have rendered even the life 
of a noble hard, narrow, and ignoble. 

As for the serf, his condition was not expected to be happy, lo. The 

His time and his labor belonged to the lord. He must work so ^^® °^ *^® 

serf 
many days in the week and fight so many days in the year for 

his master. On occasion, he must make contribution either in 



THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 



11. The 

universal 
Christian 
Church 



money or in kind to the noble's treasury or entertainment. 
He must not sell his horse or his cow without the lord's per- 
mission. He must grind his corn at the lord's mill and bake his 
bread at the lord's oven. He lived in a hovel of but one room, 
thatched with straw, or perchance with turf; his floor was 
dirt, his chimney was a hole in the roof. He ate black bread, 
cheese, and, at long intervals, meat, without salt, pepper, tea, 
coffee, or sugar. He drank beer or cider when he could get it. 
He wore a single garment, and the same one both day and night. 
Annual baths were regarded as helpful but not necessary; 
therefore, it is not surprising that plagues swept away multi- 
plied thousands of the population every few years. Life was 
necessarily regarded lightly, because it was not worth much 
under such circumstances. The poor peasant might perchance 
escape from his lord, but at the risk of being captured by some 
one else equally exacting, and, if caught, of being hung up by 
his thumbs or his toes, or confined in a foul dungeon. If such 
were the material conditions of a vast majority of the people, 
what should be their intellectual and spiritual manner of life? 

But another class of medieval society, the clergy, was fai: 
above the lords in influence and in learning. The Church was 
the most powerful organization of the Middle Ages, and was 
the chief security, so far as there was such, against violence 
and disorder of every kind. Moreover, it controlled whatever 
political organization there was. William the Conqueror con- 
sulted the Pope before his conquest of England; Henry IV 
stood barefoot in the snow .for three days at Canossa waiting 
for Pope Gregory VII to withdraw his excommunication; 
Philip Augustus, at the command of the Church, was forced to 
retain an uncompanionable wife; and King John surrendered 
England to the Pope and received it back as a fief from Rome. 
So complete was the dominion of the Church over the political 
organization that the state often helped the Church to main- 
tain its doctrine, punishing heresy with as much alacrity as did 
the Church itself. 

Furthermore, the Church was extremely wealthy. It re- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN AGE 7 

ceived large gifts of land, manors, buildings, etc., from rulers 
and rich men who hoped in this way to make reparation for 
their sins, or who sincerely wished to serve God in any accept- 
able way. Then, too, the Church levied the tithe as a means 
of support, and received valuable contributions through its 
various ordinances. 

The Church alone was the custodian of learning. Books 
were kept in the monasteries, and hence only Church officials, 
as a rule, could read. Literature, philosophy, science, and art 
consequently assumed a religious character. Those who ad- 
ministered such a powerful organization inevitably became a 
class. The clergy enjoyed many exclusive privileges and were 
exempt from burdens which the masses of men must bear. 
Since the Church was the one agent of salvation, men trusted 
its teachings and feared its power. It should be said, however, 
in justice to this religious absolutism, that it met well the needs 
of the time, and performed for succeeding ages an invaluable 
service. It not only maintained the Christian faith; it also 
preserved pagan learning. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN AGE 

Circumscribed as was his hfe, and hopeless as seemed his 12. Devel- 

future, the medieval Teuton was ordained to regenerate so- op™^'^* p* 
. , 1 . . the medi- 

ciety. He it was who held in his hand the destiny of civiliza- eval man 

tion. Classic culture and Christianity would gradually raise 

this man to the level where he could see and appreciate the 

ideals and institutions of Greece and Rome. Through the 

processes of amalgamation and absorption he would slowly 

but surely prepare to utilize all that the world before him had 

created. The art and science and literature and law of the 

Greek and Roman world would bring light to his benighted 

but teachable mind. The softening influences of Christian love 

and life and hope would gradually wear away the rough edges 

of pagan superstition and Teutonic barbarism. The plodding 

German intellect had begun to feel the effects of a thousand 

years of training in the school of the Almighty. 




8 THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

13. The Man at length was beginning to think and was beginning to 
Renaissance £gg|^ and as he caught glimpses of the ideals and institutions 

of Christianity and of classic civilization, he turned his face 
upward to the light and became restive under the restraint of 
medieval life. Though still unaware of his own rights and, 
what was more, of his own powers, he was yet no longer satis- 
fied either with his 
; ^ II material or with his 

v intellectual and 

spiritual environ- 
ment. He felt that 
society, the Church, 
t , i .> 'f F\ r ""* i^illl'llll'™!'"™'" >% ^ , the feudal lord, the 

economic and social 
organizations — 
something, some- 
where, was depriving 
him of what by right 
w^as his. Self-confi- 
dence began to take 
the place of cringing 

servitude. The 

Monk Copying Manuscript , . . , , , 

beauties of the world 

were opening unto him. He found new joy in living and 
looking upon his past; he knew that he was growing. His 
interest in new problems and his consciousness of his right to 
deal with them increased from day to day. The individual had 
begun to come into control of self. Enlightenment was taking 
the place of ignorance, and freedom the place of bondage. 
Superstition and custom were being defied, and reason chal- 
lenged the institutions of society. Men dared to undertake 
things single-handed in every field of human interest. 

14. The Perhaps the change of attitude toward life is first noticeable 
mei-Iturt ^" language and literature. Latin had been the Uterary language 

of the Middle Ages, but in the twelfth, thirteenth, and four- 
teenth centuries, vernacular tongues began to take new dignity, 




THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN AGE 9 

as is seen in the songs of the French troubadours and the 
German minnesingers. The poets of Spain sang of the Cid; 
Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales; WyckHflfe translated the 
Bible into EngUsh; and Dante composed the Divine Comedy in 
ItaUan, The movement reached its climax in England in the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when Shakespeare com- 




Printing in the Fifteenth Century 

posed his immortal dramas and Milton his sublime Paradise 
Lost. This building up of new languages and literatures was 
the result of the desire to express the new thoughts and feelings 
which were beginning to surge in men's breasts. At the same 
time they furnished a convenient weapon for use against fos- 
silized authority; new forms of thought must clothe themselves 
in new forms of expression, and the Latin language was too 
inflexible to meet the emergency. Indeed, these new languages 
contributed reflexively to the development and propagation 
of the impulses and thoughts that had brought them into 
existence. 

Art likewise reveals the presence of the free spirit. Medieval 15. The 
art had been stiff and imitative, expressing eloquently but ItT^^^ °^ 
monotonously the characteristic medieval habit of depending 



lo THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

upon authority, and the lack of confidence which every man 
must have felt in his own ability to do original work. Formal- 
ism and dogmatism had given direction to the painter's brush 
and to the sculptor's chisel as well as to the scholar's philosophy 
and to the monk's religion. In fact, medieval art, no less than 
medieval science and medieval schools, had existed for the sake 
of religion, and, therefore, had received its character from that 
religion. On the other hand, the Renaissance art is overflowing 
with the spirit of liberty. The artists feel the bracing influ- 
ence of a consciousness of power and of an appreciation of the 
beauties and joys of Kfe. Freedom is breathed from the folds 
of their draperies and beams from the countenances of their 
Madonnas. We feel its magic influence whether we gaze upon 
the Holy Family of Del Sarto or upon the Sistine Madonna 
of Raphael. Everywhere there is evidence of a breach with 
authority and a return to nature as the source of life and the 
fountain of inspiration. 
16. Reli- In religion, and in education also, the presence of an awakened 

^°'^ intelligence is everywhere apparent. As in the cases of litera- 
ture and art, the movement here began in Italy. The resurgent 
mind first asserted itself in the desire to find the original sources 
of the world's stock of knowledge. Men began to feel the 
insufficiency of authority and the injustice and inconsistency 
in ecclesiastical organization and doctrine. They turned to 
the documents of classic and Apostolic .literature both for an 
explanation of their own institutions and for an understanding 
of their relation to things eternal. Their admiration for the 
philosophy of Plato and the polished rhetoric of Cicero devel- 
oped into a passion, while their eagerness for the spirit of 
primitive Christianity led them to doubt, in some instances, 
the infallibility and the spiritual efficacy of the Church. The 
application of the spirit of free criticism to the abuses of the 
Church bore its legitimate fruits in the Protestant Revolution, 
and thus brought about the establishment of new churches and 
the invitation to men to choose their ecclesiastical relations. 
In politics the results of this movement were slower in ex- 



THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN AGE ii 

pressing themselves than in other fields of activity. And yet 17. Gov- 

it is no small evidence of a changed attitude in the mind of^'^®^*' 

_ " nations; 

Europe that nationalities begin to take permanent form in the science 
latter part of the fifteenth century. England becomes unified 
under the Tudor monarchs. The feudal lords of France gradu- 
ally give way in large measure to the Capetian kings, and Spain 
attains nationality through the expulsion of the Moors and the 
union of Castile and Aragon in the marriage of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. 

Much of the time and energy of medieval science had been 
consumed in efforts to transmute the baser metals into gold, 
to discover the philosopher's stone, to find the elixir of life, 
or to read one's fortune in the stars. Under the impulse of 
the new intellectual movement, and directly expressive of its 
nature, Copernicus further revolutionized the thinking of the 
day by proving that the sun, and not the earth, is the center 
of our universe. Galileo (i 564-1642) invented the telescope 
and established the Copernican theory. The scientific spirit, 
essentially the spirit of freedom, had at last entered upon the 
conquest of truth. 

The crusades had given a strong impetus to trade and com- 18. Com- 
merce. The West became eager for the luxuries of the East;™®*^*^!' 
trade routes were opened, and trade centers were established as 
a result. The rich cities of Italy and of the Levant sprang into 
existence, endowed with remarkable vigor and greatly devoted 
to liberty. The traders from East and West met and mingled 
in the markets and on the streets, and gained from one another 
many helpful ideas. Travel intensified men's interest in the 
world and developed a broader outlook upon life. Strange 
civilizations were drawn into the current of human interest, 
and curiosity about distant peoples and newly found lands 
began to express itself in a variety of forms. Inevitably there 
followed the desire to know. Practical inventions were begin- 
ning to arouse and to answer the spirit of inquiry. The 
compass had already come to guide the mariner in his search 
for new routes to the treasures of the East. Gunpowder came 



12 THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 

into effective use in the first part of the sixteenth century 
and powerfully aided in the destruction of feudalism, thus 
contributing to the idea of equality among men, irrespective of 
rank. Printing became general just as the revival of classic 
literature was at its height, and just in time to spread broad- 
cast the results of new activities. Books multiplied many fold, 
and the number of those who used them much more. Learning 
could no longer be monopolized. Europe was astir with the 
breath of progress. The light of reason began to fall upon the 
time-worn institutions of society and they in turn began to 
totter. The spirit of criticism was doing its work and mankind 
was breaking the shackles of medieval bondage. Man awoke 
from his centuries of slumber, refreshed and strengthened, be- 
cause in that long interval the assimilative processes had brought 
to him new elements of light and life. He now pushed out into 
unknown worlds and returned with fresher knowledge, broader 
outlook, and brighter hope. Christianity, with its spirit of 
exact justice demanding equal rights to all and special privilege 
to none, and classic culture, with its love for beauty and its 
veneration for law, had become bone and sinew to the old 
Germanic invaders. They accordingly rose in their strength, 
seized hold where the Greeks and Romans had left off, and began 
afresh the conquest of the world and the discovery of truth. 
It was in the full tide of this movement that the Western 
World was discovered. The breath of liberty brought America 
into life, and by it she has been nourished until this good hour. 

THE ANGLO-SAXONS 
19. The England was geographically remote from the influences of 

En iish^'^* classic culture, and hence was slow in coming into contact 
with it. Although she did not avail herself of the ancient 
achievements as early as did some other nations, she was better 
prepared to utilize them when she did find them. She had 
developed more completely than the rest her own racial and 
national ideals. Through her isolation and her longer years 
of experience she had achieved more of her own strength. 



THE ANGLO-SAXONS 13 

Under the guidance largely of her own instincts, she had devel- 
oped the most resourceful, the most independent, and the most 
self-reliant people in the world. When she at length turned her 
attention to the exploration and settlement of the New World, 
she directed her enterprises with greater intelligence, and sent 
to the far distant wilderness the most progressive and the most 
enlightened colonists to be found in Europe. The spirit of the 
Renaissance, then, working through the best endowed people 
of the Old World, would give rise to a nation sprung from the 
developing peoples of Western Europe, and planted in a new, a 
strange, and a stimulating environment. 

SUMMARY 

American history had its beginnings in European life. The roots of 
American national character and institutions, therefore, are to be found 
in European soil. As Europe emerges from the Middle Ages man enters 
upon a wonderful conquest of the world and of the whole realm of truth. 
In literature, in science, in religion, in government, in everything that 
engages the thoughts of men, the spirit of regeneration is plainly at work. 
Poets, painters, inventors, scientists, statesmen, sailors, merchants, religion- 
ists, all vie with each other in the accomplishment of new things. The 
air tingles with change and stimulates progress. England is best prepared 
to profit by the new conditions and in the end makes greatest use of them. 
The Anglo-Saxons, thrifty and strong, become the progenitors of the 
American people and transmit to them the spirit of revived Europe en- 
riched by the native ideals of the most capable race of the Old World. Is 
it any wonder that America should be called "the land of the free and the 
home of the brave" ? 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What reason may be given for beginning American History with a chapter 
on European conditions at the opening? 2. What is your conception of the man 
of the Middle Ages? 3. What elements of modern civilization are found in the 
medieval period? 4. What essential process was going on during this period? 5. 
Why did not the Teutons who invaded the Empire immediately continue the work 
which the Ancients had begun? 6. What are some of the earliest evidences of a 
change from medieval conditions? 7. Describe the change that took place in art, 
in literature, in science, in invention, in government, in rehgion, in education. 
8. What are all these changes taken together called? 9. Distinguish between the 
Renaissance and the Revival of Learning. 10. Do you see any resemblance be- 
tween the spirit of the Renaissance man and the spirit of the present day American? 



CHAPTER II 

THE NEW WORLD 

REFERENCES 

Authorities. — Brigham, Geographic Influences; Farrand, Basis of American 
History; MoTg3.n, American Aborigines; Viske, Discovery of America, vol. i; Starr, 
American Indians; Thwaites, Colonies, sec. 2-5; Fisher, Colonial Era, i-ii. 

Illustrative Material. — Longfellow, Hiawatha; Bryant, An Indian at the 
Burial Place of his Fathers, Manumcnt Mountain, An Indian Story, The Indian 
Girl's Lament; Leland, Algonquin Legends of New England. 



PHYSIOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 

20. The A few people of Western Europe came to the continent of 

oMhe first America when it was an unbroken wilderness and sought to 
settlers make their homes where the necessities of life were most easily 
obtained. On one side, was the danger of perishing at the hand 
of the savage; on the other, the danger of death through lack 
of food; and they built their cabins and cleared their fields 
with an eye single to the protection and prolongation of life. 
Their personal modes of living, their collective pursuits, their 
very habits, were ordered along the lines of least resistance. 
The solitary huntsman must make his single shot effective; 
the groups of fishermen must mend a net common to all and 
cast it, with prayers for success, where it would least easily be 
injured and where the prey that they were seeking was most 
abundant. 

In this day of complicated and effective machinery driven 
by steam and electricity, of steamship lines and railways, 
when manufactured goods fill every crossroads store and city 
mart with an abundance of commodities necessary for food and 
clothing, brought from places long distances away, it is diffi- 
cult to realize the full force of the truth that every colony was 



PHYSIOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 15 

compelled either to produce what it consumed, or to starve. 
If there was no food in the colony, the colonists suffered, 
although there was food in wasteful plenty within a hun- 
dred miles. It would require a long time to cross and recross 
mountains and pass swamps without roads. The building of 
bridges and the tunneling of mountains in the construction of 
great railroads are so common as to blind one to the extreme 
difficulties of the pioneer and early settler as they labored in 
widely separated groups with tools made on the other side of 
the ocean. 

In the primitive days the results of isolation were mortally 
quick and sure, and it was not only natural but also very neces- 
sary that the settlers should take every advantage which nature 
offered in order that they might live at all. The life of the pi- 
oneer hardened and toughened and helped to develop strength 
and character and the love — even the necessity — of indepen- 
dence, but it was terrible. The individual suffered, and, though 
unconsciously, he suffered in order that a strong race might 
follow. 

The factors that nature supplies in the making of nations 21. Effect 

and in the development of the race are soil and climate. °f. ^^'J 

climate 

Though it is true that the beginnings of civilization were in 
Egypt in the Eastern, and in Peru in the Western World, each a 
land under the tropical sun, it seems equally true that to pro- 
duce the highest civilization a temperate climate is not less 
necessary than is a generous soil. There must be food from the 
earth, but that food must come as the reward of industry. It 
must not fall into the lap of idleness, for the idle will never ad- 
vance. It must be a sure return for effort, for without a degree 
of certainty effort will cease. The extremes of heat and cold 
discourage the highest prolonged endeavor. The savage of the 
Caribbean islands is little below the Eskimo ; if either had made 
any advance in untold centuries, he was still far behind races 
of other climates. The frozen region is fatal to bodily vigor 
through sheer lack of productiveness, and the torrid zone is 
fatal to mental energy through lack of incentive to effort. So, 



i6 THE NEW WORLD 

as a rule, the peoples that have made great impression upon the 
history of the world have had their homes in the temperate 
zone. Such civilization as that of Egypt or that of Peru in- 
evitably passes away when it comes into contact with a higher 
form of progress. 

The descendants of the EngHsh colonists in America, and of 
the Dutch, and of the Swedes, are fortunate: their forefathers 
came from lands where thrift was a necessity to a land where 
industry was sure to be rewarded. Our forefathers found on 
the Atlantic coast a climate that would neither enervate nor 
benumb their energies, and a soil that would respond to intelli- 
gent labor. 
22. The There were many things that the early settlers had to learn 

sc 00 o through actual contact. In the first place, they had come to 
expenence '^ t' j j 

an unknown shore. The little exploration that had been made 
of the coast was uncharted for the most part, and when a chart 
could be had it was unreliable. As to the interior, no one 
knew anything; scientists continued to argue into existence a 
passage through the continent to the South sea, but the ex- 
plorers never could find it. Except on the rivers, fifty miles 
from the coast was unknown land abounding in unknown 
beasts, reptiles, and savages. Before the discovery, no white 
man had ever seen a common turkey, or a buffalo, or had eaten 
a potato, or an ear of corn, or a tomato. How many still more 
marvelous beasts and wonderful fruits might exist, who could 
know? And as to scientific conditions more recently made 
known to the world, how could the poor pioneer even dream of 
such? It was impossible for him to know that there existed 
a Gulf stream and an Arctic current; consequently he was 
utterly ignorant of the effect of these currents upon the climates 
of England and of the New World. Nor could he know as yet 
that there are greater extremes of heat and cold at a given place 
on this continent than at the place from which he had come. 
It was necessary for him to learn, and he learned at the cost of 
suffering and of repeated failure. But learning enables one to 
learn. 



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I\.and more than 10,000 ft. 
above the sea level. 

Land between 6,000 and 
10,000 ft. above sea level. 

Land between 1,000 and 

6,000 ft. above sea level. 

Ijind less than 1,000 ft. 

above sea leveL 




PHYSIOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS 17 

The colonists made their settlements in what is now called 23. The 

Atlantic 
seaboard 



the Atlantic coastal plain, which stretches from Canada to the ^*^^"**^ 



southern part of Florida, and varies in width from two hundred 
to four hundred miles. Its western boundary is a mountain 
system that extends from Labrador, subsides at the Gulf of 
Newfoundland, rises again into the Appalachians, and then 
sinks into foothills and lowland about four hundred miles from 
the Gulf of Mexico. The mountains at the west are from 1000 
to 6000 feet in height and are broken into passes at considerable 
distances apart by the Hudson, Potomac, and other rivers. 

The settlers of the region which John Smith named New 24. Physical 
England found a high, rolling country of hills and valleys, g^^^^^ 
It is one of the oldest sections of the continent, and is traversed 
by valleys and short, swift rivers, many of which have numer- 
ous falls. The surface is rough, and the coarse soil, not well 
adapted to the cultivation of grain, is more suited to the growth 
of trees. The climate invigorates, although the winters are long. 
These conditions, while limiting the possibilities of agriculture 
to small farmers, make manufacturing possible and preferable. 
The rivers furnish the power, and the climate makes indoor 
labor necessary and profitable. New England, with no natural 
open way to the west, developed mightily through her rivers 
and her coast. Urged by no great incentives to cultivate the 
soil, the people engaged largely in the crafts of the sea — the 
fisheries and traffic; and they collected in towns and cities. 
These facts contributed largely to the making of New England's 
later history; they conditioned her commerce, her social affairs, 
her politics, and her government. 

The mouths of the Hudson and confluent waters afforded 25. The 
to the early mariner a safe and restful harbor after his long and ^y^^o" 
perilous voyage. The islands and the mainland offered fertile section 
soil for such crops as the settlers wished to cultivate. The 
river gave open passage through the Appalachian mountains 
into the rich farm lands above. The Hudson and Alohawk 
rivers make the natural road to the sea from one of the most 
productive countries on the continent. It is said that nine- 



i8 THE NEW WORLD 

tenths of the wealth of the empire state Hes along these two 
rivers. WTien the Erie canal was built the destiny of New York 
city was assured. Before that was done Philadelphia and 
Boston rivaled her in trade, but she soon distanced them when 
her waterway was completed to the great granary behind the 
moimtains. Geography has made New York the commercial 
emporium of the Western World as surely as it has made the 
Mississippi valley the great agricultural empire of the future. 
26. Virginia Farther to the south the climate is genial. The summers are 
so th ard ^""8^^; the winters are milder, while moisture and soil make the 
country a great farming and fruit-growing section. From Vir- 
ginia southward the mountains recede from the coast, and the 
landscape is varied, although the lowlands broaden until the 
mountains are entirely forgotten. There is abundant rainfall, 
and it is well distributed throughout the seasons. Rivers large 
and small provide ways for the transportation of farm prod- 
ucts to the cities of the coast. These conditions invited the 
man from rural England, and it was here that the Cavaliers 
established their larger estates, in this country of natural high- 
ways. Indian corn, tobacco, and vegetables grew almost with- 
out cultivation, and the early settler found it easy to harvest 
a bountiful supply of food. The South, therefore, invited to 
rural life and made this the marked feature in the development 
of her institutions. New England became urban in thought, 
in habits of life, and in government. While conditions in the 
South naturally developed a county form of government in 
contrast with the town government of New England, New York 
and the other Middle colonies partook of the nature of both 
the South and New England. Nothing in these divergences 
and in these conformities was accidental. Events of history 
follow the law of cause and efTect with no less certainty than 
do phenomena in nature. Men and races of men may react 
differently upon their environment, but all men move accord- 
ing to the general law as naturally as birds migrate in proper 
seasons, for the law is progress in accordance with the totality 
of conditions. 



THE NATIVE INHABITANTS 19 



THE NATIVES OF NORTH AMERICA 

Ethnologists now agree that all Indians of North America, 27. Prob- 
except the Eskimo, were of one race who, by means of similar *^^?^ "'"^^ 
arrowheads, implements of war, and a rude form of art, are 
identified with the cavemen of early England and France. 

Before the days of civilization savage tribes contended with 
one another for the mastery and possession of Northern Europe 
and Asia, and it now seems probable that a group of tribes, 
forming a division of these savages, driven across Bering strait, 
or across the Atlantic by the way of Iceland and Greenland, 
found lodgment somewhere on the Western Continent, and 
became what we have regarded as the aborigines of America. 

There was not so great a difference between the Aztec and the 
savage Indian of the Northwest, a nomad and an eater of roots, 
as there is between the German of today and the barbarous 
German who overcame the Roman Empire. But a difference 
in civilization does not prove a difference in race. As in any 
race which is not brought into contact with a higher civiliza- 
tion, so the development of the Indians was necessarily slow. 
Lacking beasts of burden, or of draft, they could not reach the 
agricultural stage into which all 
civilization passes, and, since they 
could be acted upon by no outside 
influence, it is very probable that 
their development had come to a 
halt before the discovery. The 
development of the Indians through 

the ascending stages would indicate ^ ^ ^ 

, 1 , , . r Pueblo Indian Pottery 

a slow but natural evolution of 

similar characteristics under somewhat different conditions. 

The usual division of the Indian race at the coming of the 28. The 
white man is into three classes — savage, barbarous, and semi- ^^^^ stages 
civilized. Mr. Morgan in his Ancient Society gives the follow- 
ing simple rules for distinguishing the stages: The making of 




20 



THE NEW WORLD 



29. The 
savages 



30. The 
barbarians 



pottery marks the rise from savage to barbarous; the change 
from barbarism to civilization is marked by the smelting of iron 
and the use of an alphabet, while progress from the lower to 
the higher state of barbarism is indicated by the improvement 
of stone tools, the use of copper, and the making of coarse 
cloth. Measured by such standards, the Indians of Arizona, 
New Mexico, and Peru cannot be classed above the higher stage 
of barbarism, while those east of the Rocky Mountains and be- 
tween Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico were in the lower 
stage of barbarism, and those west of the Rocky Mountains 
and southwest of Hudson Bay were savages. 

The Indians that lived along the northern coast of the Pacific 
at the time of the discovery of America should be classed in 
the middle stage of savagery. They lived on roots, fish, and 
the products of the chase. The tribes of the South had begun 
to raise corn and other vegetables. They wove baskets and 
made rude ornaments and lived in holes and caves and in tents 
of rudest structure made of bark and hides. 

The barbarous Indians of the eastern part of North America 
varied in cleverness. They made pottery from clay and tools 

from stone. Among the 
lake tribes living in the 
Ohio valley many imple- 
ments made of copper, 
and ornaments of shells, 
mica, and pearl ha e been 
found in the movmds, 
all of which were evi- 
dently built by the same 
races. They made rude 
implements or frames upon which they wove a coarse cloth. 
They depended principally upon hunting and fishing, but 
cultivated a few vegetables, a little tobacco, and especially 
corn, which played an important part in the life of the 
Indians as well as that of the settlers. It was easy to culti- 
vate and did not require immediate harvesting when matured. 




Flint Spades and a H(je 



THE NATIVES OF NORTH AMERICA 



21 




Their religion never passed the stage of witchcraft and the 
medicine man. Their language contained no words that con- 
veyed the meaning of repentance and faith, hence they could 
not understand the teach- 
ing of the early mission- 
aries. Their inteUigence 
was shown particularly in 
oratory, in stratagem in 
war, and in the judicious 
and safe location of vil- 
lages. Later the towns 
of the whites were in many 
cases built on the sites of 
these villages. Their 
lodges were made of a 
framework of poles 
covered with bark, straw, 
or earth, the choice of 
these materials depending 
upon convenience. 

There was little com- 
mercial intercourse between the tribes, wampum being their 
only medium of exchange; but after the coming of the white 
man the Indians carried on an extensive barter with the 
colonists at the different tradingposts. 

Advancement toward civilization showed itself in weaving, 31. The 

agriculture, and house structure. Doubtless necessity was the ^f^\~ ^ 

.,...., civilized 
cause of this greater development, since the semi-civilized Indians 

tribes lived in the arid sections of the Cordilleras, where there 

were no fur-bearing animals to furnish the Indians clothing, 

and to protect themselves from the cold they were forced to 

weave cloth of cotton, fibre of bark, and feathers. In Arizona 

and New Mexico timber was scarce and inaccessible. The 

rapidity with which clay is dried by the sun pointed the way 

to the adobe house. The necessity for irrigation tended to 

promote experiment in agriculture ; their patches of corn or of 



-JV(^, 



Indian Village 

Village of Pomeiock, on Albemarle sound, 
in 1585 



22 



THE NEW WORLD 



potatoes became fields whose greater area taught them the 
value of slaves. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico 
cannibalism was confined to the victims offered in sacrifice to 
the gods, and the medicine man had given place to an organized 
priesthood. A comprehensive method of picture-writing had 
been devised, and their deeds in war and other important 
events were being recorded on a paper made of maguey, from 
which plant a sour beer, called pulque, also was made. 




Page ur ax Aztec book 

According to the Spaniards, the city of Mexico contained 
"pleasure gardens, menageries and aviaries, fountains and 
baths, tessellated marble floors, finely wrought pottery, exquisite 
feather work, briUiant mats and tapestries, silver goblets, dainty 
spires burning in golden censers, varieties of highly seasoned 
dishes (tamales and tortillas), dramatic performances, jugglers 
and acrobats, ballad singers and dancing girls. Such things 
were seen in this city of snake- worshiping cannibals." ^ 

Archeologists believe that this statement, taken from Spanish 

reports, is overdrawn. Nothing is unearthed in the ruins to 

indicate better tools than those of flint or obsidian. 

32. Civil The civilization of a race passes through the matriarchal 

development ^^.^^^^ during which property is inherited through the mother, 

and to her belong the children. The adoption of the patriar- 

1 Fiskc, Discovery of America. 



THE NATIVES OF NORTH AMERICA 



23 



chal form was the first step toward breaking down the clan 
government and the dawning of citizenship. 

Among the savage tribes of the Pacific coast there was some 
indication that the family existed, and all government was 
through loosely organized clans, but there was no evidence of 
any confederation of clans or of fixed habitations. 




The City of Mexico in the Sixteenth Century 
From the engraving in the Niewe Wercld of Montanus 

Building on the artless clan of the savage, the barbarous 
Indian had developed an organized matriarchal clan govern- 
ment with a loose confederacy of tribes. "A group of clans 
constituted a phratry, or brotherhood, and a group of phratries, 
a tribe," all members of which were related through the mother. 
The tribe spoke one dialect and it occupied a certain loosely 
defined territory. The diversity of languages prevented any 
strict confederation between different tribes. 

The most powerful confederacy was that of the Iroquois, the 33. The 
"Long House," as they called it, yet they had no conception "^^^^^^^ 
of an organized central government. Though the clans elected 
two general chiefs, who served during good behavior, and fifty 
sachems to constitute the general council, yet neither council 
nor chiefs could coerce a clan. Even if a clan or tribe refused 
to stand by an undisputed agreement of the confederacy there 
was no way to enforce observance. But for such weakness 



24 



THE NEW WORLD 



Pontiac's and King Philip's wars would have been far more 
disastrous to the whites. 

The outgrowth of the confederation system was the communal 
house owned by a clan, in which they all lived. The land was 
occupied by the whole tribe, the Indian having no idea of land 
ownership. Personal property consisted of arrowheads and a 
few ornaments. 



-•^ 




pc:^tjpr4 ,_ 



34. The 
Pueblos; 
the Aztecs 



Iroquois " Long House " 

The communal "pueblos" of the southwestern tribes would 
indicate their general form of government to be a development 
of the Iroquois Long House, but the Aztec confederacy, with 
its capital in the city of Mexico, was a much stronger organiza- 
tion than the pueblos had. Although consisting of only three 
tribes, the Aztec confederacy had a complex organization. 
The clan organization was still in force, but was much inferior 
to the tribe. The tribal council was supreme and each tribe 
must obey its commands. The Montezuma was elected by 
this council and held office during good behavior, and his suc- 
cessor must be chosen from the imperial clan. The confederacy 
collected a tax from the surrounding pueblos or tribes, but it 
had no jurisdiction over their affairs. Land was still occupied 
by the clan in common, though the idea f personal property 
had enlarged and slaves were owned by individuals. The 
family had changed to the patriarchal form. Laws respecting 
marriage and divorce had been made. Each pueblo contained 
an "estufa," a house used for governmental and religious 
purposes, where the most barbarous and revolting religious 



THE BARBAROUS INDIANS 



25 



ceremonies were performed. The sun dance of the Pueblo 
Indians of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as of the Mandans 
of the Northwest, has been prohibited by the United States 
government on account of its barbarous cruelty. 

The city of Mexico, surrounded by a lake, the four approaches 
to which were defended by drawbridges that could be quickly 







View of Pueblo, Taos, N. M. 

raised or lowered, was described by the early Spaniards as a 
marvel of civilization, yet the Aztecs had not nearly reached 
the stage of the Egyptians or of the peoples around the Medi- 
terranean before the building of Rome. 

THE BARBAROUS INDIANS 

The barbarous Indians of North America, with whom the 35. The six 
white man soon or late came into contact, can be divided into groups 
six groups: the Dakotas, Mandans, Pawnees, Maskoki or Mus- 
kogee, Algonkin, and Iroquois. The first three lived west of 
the Mississippi and had little relation to the earlier settler, 
though they gave much trouble later. The last three groups 
were first to welcome the white man and supply him with 
corn. They retarded the growth of his settlements when they 



26 THE NEW WORLD 

became convinced that the white man would occupy the land 

permanently. 

36. The The Algonkins held the land from Hudson bay, along the 

^^^ Atlantic coast in Canada, south to South Carolina, and west to 

groups the Mississippi river. This widely scattered family embraced 

the Powhatans of Virginia; the Mohegans; the Pequots, Narra- 

gansetts, and Wampanoags of New England; and many others. 

It was in their territory that the first settlements were made 

in Virginia, at Plymouth, and in Canada. 

The Iroquois, or "Five Nations" surrounded by the Algon- 
kins, occupied much of New York and extended westward to 
Lake Huron and northward into Canada. The "Five Tribes" 
or "Nations" were the Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Mohawks, 
and Onondagas. A sixth nation belonging to this group but 
separated from it, comprised the Tuscaroras of North Carolina 
and the Cherokees of Tennessee. After the white man came 
these tribes, at least in part, emigrated northward and joined 
the main body of the Iroquois. 

The Maskoki, or Muskogee, groups were found in the Caro- 
linas, in Georgia, and in the Gulf states east of the Mississippi. 
They comprised the Creeks, the Seminoles, the Choctaws, the 
Chickasaws, and perhaps other smaller tribes which were 
being absorbed at the time of the discovery. The Indians 
fought the encroachments of the Spaniard and Frenchman, and 
later of the backwoodsman as he pushed his way into Tennessee 
and the southwest territory. 

The population of the three great groups was probably not 
over 150,000 souls. By far the greater number were scattered 
along the seacoast, rivers, and lakes. There were a few villages 
in the interior, but they were on the border of vast hunting 
grounds where many bloody battles were fought. Constant 
warfare, great mortality among children, contagious diseases 
that sometimes depopulated entire villages, and a natural 
improvidence that led to starvation during the cold winters, 
caused the Indians to be less numerous than they were supposed 
to be. 



GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE 27 

The French soon made friends with the Algonkins of the 37. Effect 

North, in whose country they traded for furs. The French °^ ^°^'*° 
' ■' •' wars upon 

traders frequently married Indian women and were adopted the colonists 
into the tribes. The French told the Indians they did not 
desire to hold their lands, and that they built forts only to 
protect their hunting grounds against the Enghshmen. They 
helped the Indians in their wars, sometimes abetting the most 
atrocious massacres of the frontier English settlements. The 
English also traded with the Indians and made them their 
allies, but never led in their forays, though they encouraged 
the Iroquois in their continual border wars against the French 
and Algonkins. This continued warfare reduced the fighting 
strength of the Indians, so that when war was waged against 
England they were not so formidable as they had been at an 
earlier date. The hostility of the Iroquois kept the French 
out of the Ohio valley, while the Algonkins and Maskokis 
kept the English confined to the narrow strip of coast east of 
the Alleghany mountains, thus forcing settlements to be made 
near together, a condition which proved fortunate to the colonies 
in enabling them to repel the invasion of the British armies. 
The wars against the French and Indians unified the colonies, 
while the necessity for self-protection created a spirit of inde- 
pendence among them. The training the men received in 
Indian warfare developed a natural strategy unknown to the 
British generals. 

SUMMARY 

When the European came to America he lived in a most primitive way, 
accommodating himself to unmodified nature. He obtained his water supply 
from spring or brook. The forest and lake furnished his meat. The river 
was his roadway and a raft of logs was his means of travel. These gifts of 
nature, ready made, nourished him at first and later gave direction to his 
enterprises and conditioned his social and civil institutions. His isolation 
from the mother country developed self-reliance, and danger from the Indian 
forced upon him the necessity of co-operation. From the Indian, too, he 
learned helpful lessons in agriculture and gained a knowledge of the country 
that stood him in good stead at a later day. 



28 



THE NEW WORLD 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 

1. Why must each town, county, and country produce as great values as it con- 
sumes? 2. How do climate and soil aflfect prosperity and growth of institutions? 

3. Make a list of things pecuUar to .\merica that are used for food or clothing. 

4. Is there such a thing as a geographical influence in the Hfe of an individual? 

5. There are no accidents in history. Illustrate. 6. Give a geographical reason 
for town government in New England and county government in the South. 7. 
Can you think of an Indian custom that has left a permanent mark on American 
Ufe? 8. If the Indians had been as highly civilized as the European settlers who 
came to this country, would there be any serious difference in the history of 
America? 9. Have you ever seen any evidences in your community that Indians 
once inhabited this country? 10. Account for the general failure of attempts to 
Christianize the Indian. 













Ruins of Building of Semi-civilized Indians 
Chicken Itza, Mexico 



CHAPTER III 
DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Thwaites, Colonies; Fisher, Colonial Era; Fiske, 
Discovery of Atncrica, vol. i; Wilson, American People, vol. i. 

Source Book. — Hart, Contemporaries. 

Illustrati\t; M.\teri.\i,. — Whittier, Norsemen; Longfellow, Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert; Wallace, The Fair God. 

INCENTIVES TO ENTERPRISE 

In a previous chapter it has been pointed out that in the 38. The 
period immediately preceding the discovery of America, Europe ^^^^^ssance 
was undergoing a marvelous intellectual and spiritual transfor- to America 
mation that expressed itself in literature, art, religion, science, 
and eventually in government. It was an age of zealous and 
determined inquiry, and hence a wonderful age of discovery. 
It possessed two features which bear a close relation to the 
discovery of America: one, the expanding commerce already 
referred to and the consequent desire to reach the East; the 
other, the increasing interest in geography. 

During the four or five centuries preceding the discovery, 39. The 
Europe's commercial interests had widened very rapidly. The ^^^^^ routes 
crusades, calling Europeans to Egypt and even into the Tigris- 
Euphrates region, had stimulated interest in travel and com- 
merce and had enlarged the intellectual horizon of the times. 
In the latter part of the thirteenth century Marco Polo made 
an extended tour through the far East and brought back a 
mixture of truth and fiction that filled his hearers with wonder. 
His fabulous story of the Golden Island (Japan) seemed less 
marvelous than his facts concerning the products of the Moluc- 
cas and Ceylon, which so aroused the interest of the West in 
the East that permanent trade routes were soon established 



30 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



between the two, and there followed a flourishing commerce in 
the exchange of cloths and manufactured articles for the spices, 
dyes, gems, perfumes, and other luxurious commodities that bril- 
liant courts, extravagant feudal lords, and a recently enriched 
merchant class would naturally demand. In those days the 
fleets of the Italian cities raced with one another for the trade 
of the Orient, and long caravans lined the various routes from 
Venice northward over the Alps and overland eastward across 




40. Geog- 
raphy ; 
Toscanelli's 
map 



the Hellespont. But in 1453 the Turks captured Constanti- 
nople and cut off the trade routes in that region, giving a fatal 
blow to the Italian cities and changing the whole direction of 
commerce. Yet the losses of Venice and Genoa proved to be 
the gains of Cadiz and Lisbon. Europe felt an urgent neces- 
sity for a new route to India; under the spur of this necessity 
she appealed to science, and science responded. 

That the earth is round, many scholars had believed since 
the days of Aristotle, more than three centuries before Christ. 
Roman geographers knew of the theory and surmised that 
"habitable earths" might be found by sailing from Iberia to 
India by way of the Atlantic ocean. The idea of the rotundity 



GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE 



31 



of the earth was preserved through the Middle Ages, both by 
the Arab philosophers and by the Christian monks, and had now 
become the possession of the scholar of the Renaissance. In the 
latter part of the fifteenth century, along with other increased 
activities of the period, geographers were at work whose labors 
prepared the way for Columbus and his contemporaries. Tos- 
canelli, an Italian, in reply to an inquiry from Columbus, sent 
a long letter (1474) accompanied by a map setting forth his 




TOSCANELLI'S MaP, 1474 

advice to Columbus about a voyage to India by way of the 
Atlantic. He believed that Cipango (Japan) occupied, approxi- 
mately, the region which we know as Mexico. Perhaps he 
had miscalculated the circumference of the globe, underrating 
it about twenty-five per cent ; or else he had supposed that Asia 
extended some seven thousand miles farther eastward. Be that 
as it may, his error was a fortunate one, because Columbus 
could never have found men or money for a voyage of ten 
thousand miles, even if he had been willing to undertake it. 

Scholars disagree as to the original home of the Caucasian. *^- "^^^ 

sagas of the 
Some place it in North India and call the first of the race Northmen 



32 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

Aryans; others place it in the forests of North Germany and 
call the first of the race Germans, or Teutons. The advocates 
of a German origin believe that the early civilization which 
flourished on the northern coast of the Mediterranean could 
hardly have sprung from an Eastern people such as produced 
Lapp and Finn and Eskimo, but, on the contrary, that the light- 
haired German sent out hosts of conquering emigrants south- 
ward thousands of years before history records the deeds of 
Alaric and Attila. 

The race of Northmen spread over Scandinavia, Germany, 
and other countries southward. In the ninth century they 
settled Iceland, a land nearer to America than to Europe, and 
within a hundred years they had found America and had 
made settlements on the coast of Greenland. Both of these 
islands still belong to them. From Greenland they made 
voyages, according to their ancient songs, to a land at the 
west, sailed southward along its shores, and brought back some 
of the products of the country. 

When the laws of Norway created a state monopoly of water 
transportation, the Northmen no longer made voyages to 
America, and what little knowledge of the Western Continent 
had been obtained seems to have been forgotten until Columbus 
startled the world with the annoimcement that only the narrow 
Atlantic separated the shores of Western Europe from those of 
eastern Asia. 

VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY: THE SPANIARDS 

42. Coium- The theories of the size and form of the world were pretty 

bus; his enough in the cloister of the monk and in the study of the 

character ^ •' 

and fame geographer, but the practical application of them required a 

man who combined the genius and the hero. Of the thousands 

of men who believed in the rotundity of the earth not one before 

Columbus had the courage of his convictions. He alone 

formulated a plan, based on science, howsoever imperfect, and 

wrought it out with long persistence and imequaled fortitude. 

That he found something more than he had sought serves to 



VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY: THE SPANIARDS 33 



increase rather than to diminish his glory. A conviction that 
a continent stood in his way would have given his arguments 
before courts a potency irresistible from the first, and no one 
would ever have heard of the patient striving for help during 
long years of denial and dis- 




couragement. The possibihty 
of finding a new continent 
would far outweigh, in the 
royal balance, the chance of 
finding a new way to an old 
one. 

After repeated unsuccessful 
appeals to the kings of Eng- 
land, France, Spain, and Por- 
tugal, Columbus finally secured 
the assistance of Queen Isabella 
of Spain. Under her favor he 
fitted out three small vessels, 
the Pinta, the Nina, and the 
Santa Maria, and set sail from 
Palos, August 3, 1492. It was 
a soul-trying voyage. Driven 
constantly westward by an east 

wind, they were soon upon the trackless deep, and, as the sailors 
thought, going down hill. How could they hope ever to return? 
Murmurings among the crew were met with the calm declara- 
tion from Columbus that under God's help he would reach the 
Indies. On Friday, October 12, 1492, they came upon land. 
The sailors no doubt rejoiced because they could again set foot 
upon solid earth, but Columbus was stirred with an emotion of 
a different kind. He had reached, as he thought, India, the 
land toward which all Europe was now bending its energy. 
He had put science to test and it had not been found wanting. 
Hereafter men would approach new undertakings with a dif- 
ferent spirit. Columbus's feelings are perhaps best described 
in his own statement: "I gave the name of San Salvador, in 



Christopher Columbus 

The oldest known picture of 
Columbus, in the National Library, 
Madrid 



34 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



commemoration of his Divine Majesty who has wonderfully 
granted all this." The land he had reached was an island of 
the Bahama group. After taking possession of the new land 
in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, he continued his search 
for the mainland, hoping to find Cathay (China). In this he 
was disappointed, though he did believe that Cuba might be the 
long-sought kingdom of the East and that Haiti was Cipango. 



Tampa Bay] ^q \\ 

\ '8. V 

GULF OF MEXICO ^ 'i^-^ ^' 




%\ cs^f^"^^ ATLANTIC 



. SAN SALVADOR 

•S^ O C E A N 



After losing the Pinta through the desertion of its captain, and 

the Santa Maria in a storm, he returned to Spain in the third 

vessel and was received with wild acclamations of joy by his 

fellow countrymen and given royal honors by the king and 

queen. 

44. The The discovery of the new lands was a matter of great im- 

I'^^'^l^later Portance in the eyes of the rulers of Spain, who had furthered 

voyages of the enterprise of Columbus. They had just brought to its end 

Columbus ^ ^^,^j. ^\^\f,\^ had conquered the Mohammedan Moors within 

their borders, and they wished to continue the glory of their 

reign. To add peoples to their kingdom, to convert the heathen 

of the Asian islands to Christianity, would be a work well 

worthy of monarchs who had rescued their own land from 



VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY: THE SPANIARDS 35 



the Infidels. Spain was already well within the front rank of 
the powerful nations, and nothing must content her until she 
should leave all others in the rear. Her reluctance in aiding 
Columbus was a matter of the past; for the future the scope 
of her maritime enterprises would be equaled only by her 
munificence in sustaining 
them. She quickly pro- 
vided the great admiral 
with ships, men, and stores 
necessary for colonizing 
the new lands. Sailing 
again, he found many 
other islands, and in 1502 
saw the mainland of Amer- 
ica, but returned without 
landing. Meantime, his 
first discovery had been 
the signal for a revolution 
in the civil and political 
condition of the world. 
Moreover, it "had greatly 
stirred the spirit of adven- 
ture, so that sailors now 
boldly plied the sea in 
every direction. 

Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spaniard, came to America in 45. Dis- 

1=510 and settled in Darien. In exploring the country he heard covery of 

the Pacifi 
through the natives that there was a great sea at the south, ocean 

and that far away on its shores there was a land where the people, 
whose houses were filled with gold, lived like kings. He deter- 
mined to fmd that sea .and that land, and in 15 13, with a few 
followers, he crossed the mountains and saw the Pacific. He 
entered the water and, in the name of his sovereign, with great 
ceremony took possession of it and all lands on its shores. 

Spain claimed Florida from the visit of Ponce de Leon in *^- ^•^" 

covery of 
1 5 13. Without accepting the story of his creduHty, it is not Florida 




The Columbus Monument at Genoa 



36 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



47. The 
discovery of 
the North 
American 
mainland 
— 1497 



difficult to believe that he wished for good health and could not 
find it in San Domingo. He set up the standard of Spain 
somewhere near St. Augustine in 15 13, and named the land 
Florida in honor of the day of its dis- 
covery, Easter Sunday. 

THE ENGLISH 

In 1407 the king of England granted a 

license to John Cabot to make a voyage 

of discovery on the condition that he 

should defray his own expense. All the 

land was to belong to the crown, which 

should receive also one-fifth of the 

profits from the monopoly of trade 

which Cabot should have. Cabot was 

an Italian, but was living in England, 

and he seems to have been a sailor of 

some experience. In the course of the 

voyage he reached the mainland of 

North America, and there is little room 

for doubt that in the neA year he and 

his son Sebastian sailed along the coast 

Cabot Memorl-^l Tower from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. 

Erected at Bristol, Eng- Upon these expeditions England, nearly 

land, in memoryof the first ^ hundred years later, set up serious 
sailor Irom England to visit . . 




America 



claims to the continent. 



48. Verra- 

zano; 

Cartier 



THE FRENCH 

In 1524 John Verrazano, an Italian in the service of France, 
sighted land at Cape Fear and sailed along the coast as far 
north as Newfoundland. This was the first voyage to America 
under the protection of France, though for some years previ- 
ously French fishermen had visited the banks of Newfoundland. 

Jacques Cartier, in 1534, ascended the St. Lawrence river; 
he traded for furs with the Indians, and gave the name Montreal 
to a certain hill, and called another spot China, possibly think- 



THE ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND PORTUGUESE 37 



ing the rapids were all that prevented his reaching the celestial 
empire. The French made good their claim to Canada by dis- 
covery and they lost it by war. 

THE PORTUGUESE 

The name Vasco da Gama is associated with early America 49. Da 
because of Pedro Cabral. Da Gama was the first to go round q^^^'. 
the Cape of Good Hope; on his return to Lisbon in 1499, Vespucius; 
another fleet was fitted out on his recommendation ; the fleet ^°'^*^" ® 




U X I T E D 



T L A J!f T T C 
OCEAN 



SCALE OF MILES. 



Map Showing Jacques Cartier's Voyages 

Thus; 1st Voyage •■^— 2d Voyage 3d Voyage — ♦— ♦ 

sailed under Cabral, and "blown by adverse winds" reached 
an unknown land on April 24, 1 500, where he took formal pos- 
session of what is now known as Brazil in the name of the king 
of Portugal. Possibly the northern coast of Brazil had been 
previously seen by one of Columbus' companions. 

Cabral at once sent a small vessel back to Portugal to an- 
nounce the discovery, and then continued his voyage to India. 
When the king learned the news he invited Americus Vespucius 
to enter his service, and sent him to explore the newly discovered 



38 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

land. Vespucius had difficulty at first, but at length succeeded 
in exploring the coast as far south, according to some, as the 
Antarctic ocean. Americus Vespucius, innocently and unin- 
tentionally no doubt, gave his name to the whole continent. 
The name seems to have been intended to designate those lands 
which Vespucius had found, and he could hardly have had the 
knowledge that their magnitude was so great as to include those 
already discovered by Columbus and his companions. 

Another Portuguese discoverer was Caspar Corte-Real. In 
the year 1500, endeavoring to find a route to India, he sailed 
to the North American coast, landed, and named the country 
Labrador (the land of laborers or slaves) and returned home 
with a few natives whom he had captured. In the next year 
he went on a second voyage, but never returned. 

In 1502 his brother set out with another ship in search of 
Caspar; but neither of them was ever heard of more. 

50. The Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, offered his 
^ "'^'. services to Spain in an attempt to find a short way to India. 

tionof the He sailed in September, 15 19; he coasted southern Brazil and 
^ passed through the Strait of Magellan; he named the Pacific, 

and crossed it to the Philippines, in 1521, where he fell in an 
attack upon a native tribe. He had set out with five ships; 
but one of them returned, with only eighteen survivors, who 
arrived in Spain by way of the Cape of Cood Hope. 

EXPLORING THE CONTINENT 

51. Cortez; Hernando Cortez, with infantry, cavalry, and artillery, 
arvaez, landed on the coast of Mexico in March, 15 19, and within less 

Coronado than a year had conquered the "empire." 

The governor of Cuba sent Panfilo de Narvaez with an armed 
force to supersede Cortez, but Narvaez was defeated and made 
prisoner. In 1527 Narvaez received from Spain a grant of a 
great part of Florida. He landed, with about six hundred 
men, near Tampa, in 1528, and marched into the interior in 
the everlasting search for gold. Finding none, and discouraged 
through hardship, he and his men turned to the coast again 



EARLY VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY 39 



7^ 



v^^iTC 






N ' ' 



GREENLAND 



\ .^/ 



. N rf^ T H 



^v 



New Albion 



■ ^ .'-.0^ T L A N T 1 C ■% 

V_( - -" / JSPMN/ 

-V.- , --' AzORt's--. f iPalos 



/ \ _^_^ MADEIRA/ /^' 

-■v. ^., ;; ^^'""''r"'^ - CANARY IS. /<■•'.!; 

t.,l\V ' --'■"" bJfi'''' 

H>J \J>,^— — COLUMBUS 1492 .^?/ 



'^"^'^Jt-.a'''' _---'i5T3 ^:i AFRICA 

^-^:;:;._j c E A N,/;^ \ 



Balboa 1513 



i^: Y S ^U T H -^ /V 
P A C I F I C'^^^ ' ^ '■'- 



AMERICA i /.'.«'' 



OCEAN 



"-"o-j;. 



'^0'''-~... 



Y? 



Strait of Magellan'"- C.pu Horn 



Map of Early Voyages 



40 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

and built boats in which they attempted to reach Mexico. 
Many perished in a storm; those who reached land were taken 
by the natives, and death soon relieved the sufferings of all but 
four. Of these few surs'ivors, Cabeza de Vaca seems to have 
been the most vigorous and resourceful. Reduced to slavery 
among savages, a thousand miles of ocean between them and 
their friends, they nevertheless reached Mexico. They had 
passed through southern Texas, crossing rivers and prairies and 
mountains; they had crossed Chihuahua and Sonora to the 
Gulf of California ; they had walked two thousand miles in the 
wilderness, and had attained their end in 1536, nine years 
after they landed in Florida. When they reached Mexico, 
they were questioned about the country through which they 
had passed. DeVaca's description and information, obtained 
by a special message, induced the Spanish authorities to send 
an expedition into northern Mexico in search of "The Seven 
Cities," reputed to shine with gold and precious stones. This 
expedition, under command of Francisco de Coronado, also 
failed to find gold or cities; but it passed over a great land 
from which many states have been made. Coronado's expe- 
dition gave strength to Spain's claim to Texas, as did that of 
Narvaez to her claim to Florida and all the Gulf coast. 
52. Her- In 1 539 another Spanish expedition, six hundred strong, 

^^t°^ landed on the west coast of Florida. De Soto had been with 
De boto 

Pizarro in the conquest of Peru, and his thirst for gold was not 
yet satisfied. For almost four years these Spaniards advanced 
or wandered through the great American forest, their numbers 
constantly diminishing through disease, hardships, and war 
with the natives. They went through Georgia, Alabama, Ten- 
nessee, and possibly Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. They 
found no gold; but they found the Mississippi, and they learned 
that America is a wide continent. In 1542 De Soto died, 
and his body was buried in the Mississippi. His surviving 
followers built boats and in 1543 reached Mexico. 

De Soto gave to Spain a strong claim to almost the whole 
of the territory now included in the Southern states. 



EXPLORING AND SETTLING 



41 



CLAIMS TO AMERICA 

By the middle of the sixteenth century Spain claimed all 53. Spain; 

of South America, except Brazil, and was dominant in North !1''^"'^^', 

. . . England 

America. She claimed Florida, which stretched indefinitely 
north and west; she had conquered Mexico, which extended 
from the Gulf to the Pacific, and from the Pacific to Florida, 




De Soto's Route ^.^^^ 



Map of De Soto's Route — 1539-1542 

covering all of the western and half of the eastern part of the 
United States; and she was ready to maintain her claims in 
war. She had become immensely rich and powerful; even 
before the discovery, her revenues had begun to increase 
enormously, and with the slave trade in Indians and negroes, 
and with her mines in INIexico and Peru, she was far the most 
powerful among the nations. 

The French, at the same time, based claims to parts of the 
North American coast on the ground of discovery by Verrazano 



42 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



64. Port 
Royal; 
St. John's 
river 



and Cartier, while England's right to the country because of 
the Cabots' discovery was lying dormant and unheard of. 

FRENCH EFFORTS AT SETTLEMENT 

In 1562 John Ribault came out with a small colony of French 
Protestants, or Huguenots, as they were called, and at Port 
Royal, on the coast of CaroHna, he built a fort; then he left the 
colony, sailing for France. Utter failure followed; in despera- 
tion the thirty colonists repaired an old leaky boat and risked 
„-^^ , the Atlantic. They 



were picked up by an 
English ship, after hor- 
rible sufferings. 

The following year 
Laudonniere came out 
with other Huguenots 
and built a fort which 
they named Fort Caro- 
line, near the mouth 
of St. Jolms river in 
Florida. They were 
not seriously wishing to 
build homes in the new 
land; on the contrary, they were gold seekers, if not worse; yet 
there were some good men among them, and when Sir John 
Hawkins came by (56) and offered to take them to England they 
declined, hoping that Ribault would soon come to their relief. 
Ribault arrived in August with seven ships and three hundred 
men; and early in September a Spanish fleet of eleven sail 
steered past the mouth of the harbor, moving southward. 




Fort Caroline, the French Huguenot 
Settlement in Florida 

From De Bry's Voyages 



55. St. 
Augustine; 
Ysleta; 
Santa Fe 



SPANISH EFFORTS AT SETTLEMENT 

The king of Spain had sent out an officer named Menendez 
to govern Cuba and Florida and convert the heathen. Sailing 
past the French fort at the mouth of the St. Johns, Menendez 



FRENCH AND SPANISH SETTLEMENTS 43 

continued his course until he found a pleasant site for his 
colony; then he landed and began to build St. Augustine, the 
first permanent European settlement in the territory of the 
present United States. 

France and Spain were not at war with each other, but the 
Protestants and Catholics were; so Ribault and Laudonniere, 
seeing the Spanish fleet sail by, knew that they must fight; 




St. Augustine, Florida, as founded by Menendez 
Pagus Hispanorum as given Montanus and Ogilby 

they sailed to attack St. Augustine, but a storm wrecked their 
ships, and the result was that the Spaniards put every French- 
man to the sword; thus perished the French colony at the 
mouth of the St. Johns river. 

Two years later another Frenchman, DeGourgues, led an 
expedition, at his own cost, against St. Augustine to avenge 
his murdered countrymen; and although he did not take 
St. Augustine itself, he captured the outlying forts and hanged 
all the Spaniards who fell into his hands. No great political 
complications seemed to follow these religious troubles. 

Following Coronado's expedition, the Spanish missionaries 
succeeded in establishing missions in the Rio Grande valley, 
one at Ysleta, and another at Santa Fe. 



44 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

THE ENGLISH ROVERS 

56. Haw- WTiile the Spaniards were monopolizing American trade, 
kins; Drake; |-j] J ji^^ their treasury with western silver and gold, and driving 
Armada away the French from Florida, the English were developing 
their industries, building a powerful monarchy, and preparing 
to take the commercial leadership of the world. In the mean- 
time, already at work, was the advance agent of her new great- 
ness, the English sea-rover. Sir John Hawkins was an able 
navigator who attained a high rank in the English service and 
gained a great reputation in the contest with the Spanish 
Armada. He was at first engaged in the slave trade, carrying 
wild negroes from the coast of Guinea to the West Indies, where 
they were sold to the planters at a great profit. In returning 
from one of these voyages he touched at the mouth of the St. 
Johns river (54). Sir Francis Drake served under Hawkins, 
his kinsman and benefactor in early life. With Hawkins he 
fought not only Spanish ships, but Spanish towns on the Ameri- 
can coast. He sailed north along the Pacific beyond the site 
of San Francisco, made boldly across the South sea, rounded the 
Cape of Good Hope, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth as 
the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. The queen 
gave him a privateering commission, and he plundered the 
Spaniards anywhere he could find them, ranging the whole 
ocean and all its coasts. As to exploration, he did that inci- 
dentally; nevertheless, he sailed along the whole west coast of 
America from Cape Horn to Oregon, and claimed for England 
what is now California. He, as well as Hawkins, gave valiant 
support to Elizabeth in her resistance to the attempted inva- 
sion by the Spaniards. In the great protracted battle in the 
Channel, Drake's splendid courage and superb seamanship con- 
tributed largely to England's victory, and victory then meant 
England's future leadership of the nations. From this time 
Spain, the temporal bulwark of the Catholic faith, declined in 
power and influence; while her rival, a Protestant country, 
grew without a seeming hindrance. England now began to 



ENGLISH EFFORTS AT SETTLEMENT 



45 



feel her power. She. entered upon the period of commercial 
and colonial development that has made her the great civiliz- 
ing nation of the world. Her adventurous seamen now explored 
every coast, while her expanding industries found new markets 
in hitherto barbarous lands. Her increasing population sought 
new homes where Cabot had planted her flag, and the suc- 
cessful colonization of America began. 

ENGLISH EFFORTS AT SETTLEMENT 

One of the most celebrated of the English commanders who 
took part in the overthrow of the Spanish Armada was Sir 
Walter Raleigh, a seaman, 
a soldier, and a statesman. 
Perhaps it would not be 
too much to say of him 
that he was the foremost 
Englishman of his time. 
Raleigh was already inter- 
ested in America; he had 
fought the Spaniards 
there, and he had at- 
tempted to colonize there. 
In 1578 Queen Elizabeth 
gave a patent to Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, granting 
him the authority to dis- 
cover and possess 
"heathen lands not 
actually possessed of any 
other Christian prince or 
people." Gilbert disposed 
of his estate and that of 
his wife in raising funds 
for an expedition and then secured the cooperation of Raleigh, 
his young step-brother. The first voyage brought no results; in 
1583 Gilbert sailed again and landed in Newfoundland; but his 




Sir Walter Raleigh and his Son 



57. Failures 
of settle- 
ments; 
Gilbert; 
Raleigh ; 
Gosnold ; 
Pring ; 
Weymouth 



46 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

largest ship was wrecked, and while sailing for England his own 
ship foundered and all on board were lost. 

Raleigh succeeded to Gilbert's work." In 1584 he secured a 
charter of colonization and sent men to examine the coast. In 
the next year he sent out colonists, but they became discouraged, 
and when Sir Francis Drake appeared on the coast they secured 
passage in his fleet back to England. 

In 1587 Raleigh sent out another colony, which landed on 
Roanoke Island. The colony was under John White, who 
soon sailed for England, leaving his daughter and granddaughter, 
little Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America. 
White, for some reason, did not return to Roanoke for nearly 
three years, and when he at last arrived on the coast he found 
that the colony had disappeared. In the bark of a tree had 
been carved the letters CROATAN. White returned to 
England without finding any other trace of Raleigh's lost 
colony.^ 

Other unsuccessful efforts to plant colonies were made by 
Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602, JMartin Pring in 1603, and 
George Weymouth in 1605; colonization proved too great a 
task for private means; and there was no success until trading 
companies gave to the work their ability and enterprise. 

SUMMARY 

Before the time of Columbus, various peoples had probably visited 
America, but for one reason or another the world had made no use of their 
discoveries. The work of Columbus, though entirely diflerent from what 
he had expected to accomplish, was the direct result of European con- 
ditions. It was the expression of that marvelous intellectual transforma- 
tion of Europe known as the Renaissance, and as such is to be ranked with 
the invention of the printing press and the formation of the modern lan- 
guages. But it had further significance: it not only pointed backward to 

* Many believe that Raleigh's colonists intermingled with the natives. James- 
town heard of a white princess at the south. On the southern border of North 
Carolina there is now a seemingly mixed race of people who are called Croalans. 

On a military map used by General Grant in 1864, there is a spot, about eleven 
miles southeast from Richmond, marked "The grave of Virginia Dare." 0. R. 
Atlas, plate xcii, map i, section i. 



EUROPEAN CLAIMS IN 1600 




48 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



an awakening Europe, but it also pointed forward to a day of new achieve- 
ment for all the world — a day in which America should take first rank in 
the most enlightened civilization mankind has ever known. It stimulated 
men's interest in the world and led Spaniards, Englishmen, Portuguese, and 
Frenchmen to make explorations in the new hemisphere. Most of these 
exi)lorations were inspired by the love of adventure and the greed for gold, 
but llie\- laid tlu; basis for European claims and for colonial empire. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What makes the discovery of Columbus more important than that of Leif 
Ericson? 2. Was Columbus's discovery an accident? 3. What gives to Columbus 
special claim to the admiration of the world? 4. What importance should be 
attached to each of the following: De Soto, Cartier, Cabot, Cabral? 5. How did 
Spain come into possession of the Philippines? How long did she keep them? 
6. How did Brazil become a Portuguese possession? 7. Why was Spain more 
active in the New World during the fifteenth century than were the other nations 
of Europe? 8. Why did the Spaniards confine their activities chiefly to the southern 
half of the Western Hemisphere? 9. State the claims of each of the following 
nations at the close of the fifteenth century: Spain, France, England, Portugal. 
10. If South America had been an island would the story of exploration and settle- 
ment have been different? 



Pmi- 



'<-}*% 



iv^'/■.W£..N^fr^:C,rfU(i■.\&FKlHI4^'^^t§ 
■UiR;»r,T«6.ti'UJS»'^*<:tjH'A>!i:«iciv"5 



-IN AnJwsowsfAlSiiytii itAiiixiu Owe. j 




Monument at Old Fort Raleigh 



part II 

THE BUILDING OF FREE LOCAL 
INSTITUTIONS 

CHAPTER IV 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

REFERENCES 

Thwaites, The Colonies; Fisher, The Colonial Era; Hart, Contemporaries; 
Wilson, American People, i. 

VIRGINIA 

By the close of the sixteenth century England had taken her 53. Condi- 
place well toward the front in everything that makes for national *J°"^ ^^ 
greatness. The Tudor monarchs had endeavored to maintain 1600 
peace and develop the internal resources of the nation. The 
people were weary of war and turned eagerly to the arts of 
peace. The result was expressed in an unprecedented growth 
of industry and commerce. Agriculture was supplanted as the 
leading industry by manufacturing and trade, and England 
became urban rather than rural. The destruction of the Span- 
ish Armada in 1587 had signalized the material supremacy of 
England as well as the definite establishment of Protestantism. 
Moreover, the full tide of the Renaissance reached England in 
this century and greatly stimulated every form of intellectual 
and spiritual activity. It was the golden age of literature, the 
reformatory age of religion. It was essentially a period of tran- 
sition and of expansion. The nation was becoming conscious 
of its power and was undertaking to explore every field of 
human enterprise. What was more natural than the coloni- 
zation of the New World? 



50 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



59. The 
Virginia 
Company 



60. The 
founding 
of James- 
town 




w^ 



Raleigh's attempt at colonizing (57) had been undertaken at 
his own cost and misfortune, and no one had arisen to emulate 
him. But it was not uncommon in Europe to form trading 
companies, under a charter from the monarch, which charter 
granted authority to trade, to settle, and to govern the settlers, 
and provided that the king should be paid a specified part of the 
profits. Such a company was formed in England in the year 
i6o6, and received King James's authority to colonize Virginia. 
In this company there were two groups of shareholders, one of 
the groups residing at Plymouth, the other at London. The 
London branch undertook to make a settlement in Virginia, and 
received a charter to all the country along the coast from 34° 
to 38°, while the Plymouth branch received a grant to all land 

between 41° and 
45° north latitude. 
The intervening 
territory was to be 
subject to settle- 
ment by either 
branch, provided 
only that one 
should not make 
a settlement 
within a hundred 
miles of a settle- 
ment of the other. 
The colony was to be governed by fourteen councillors in Eng- 
land, subject to the king, who should name thirteen men of the 
colony as a local council. The colony was to be under the 
immediate control of the local council, and the council under 
the general control of the king. 

On the 19th of December, 1606, the first permanent settlers 
that England ever sent out as a colony sailed for the Virginia 
1607 coast in three small ships, under command of Captain Christo- 
pher Newport. There were one hundred and forty-three men; 
not a woman or a child was among them. Many were "gentle- 



ViRGiNiA IN Early Days 



VIRGINIA 



5r 



men unused to work and scorning it; only twelve were laborers, 
and among the artisans were jewelers, gold refiners, and a per- 
fumer." On May 13, 1607, Newport came to land on the left 
bank of the James river, about forty miles above its mouth, 
and the colonists began a hard struggle against untamed nature 
and untamable men. For two years they endured indescrib- 
able hardships. Food ran low; many colonists would not 
work ; others spent their time in exploring rivers or in hunting 
for gold. The change of 
climate and mode of liv- 
ing caused sickness, de- 
spair, and death. 

Meanwhile, natural 
leaders had appeared, 
who saved the colony 
from utter ruin. Captain 
John Smith, in great dis- 
favor with the colonists 
when they landed, had 
won the first place in 
their esteem. He proved 
himself to be the man for 
the hour. When Smith 
became the leader of the 
colony, he decreed that 
"he who would not work should not eat," and then everybody 
worked. He urged the strong to exertion, cared for the sick, 
cultivated the friendship of the Indians, explored the country, 
made maps of it, and wrote books about it. Moreover, Smith 
helped the situation from the other side of it; he begged the 
council to send no more idlers; he wished for farmers, carpen- 
ters, blacksmiths, woodcutters, and ditch diggers. But, with all 
Smith's efforts, the colonists were reduced to a sorry plight; 
they had passed through a "starving time"; nearly half had 
died from fevers and starvation. The survivors were despair- 
ing wretches whose greatest desire was to see England again. 




61. Captain 
John Smith 



Captain John Smith 

From the map in his Description 
of New England 



52 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



62. The 

charter of 
1609 



63. Com- 
munity 
labor 
abolished 



64. The 
charter of 
1612 



Just as they were about to leave their new homes, as they 
thought, forever, Lord De La Warr came to their help with 
immigrants and supplies. The colony thus near to extinction 
took on new vigor and began the second stage of its history. 

The colony, of course, was very unprofitable to the share- 
holders and the king granted a new charter with larger liberties 
to both patentees and colonists. In this charter the territorial 
boundaries of the colony were made to extend two hundred 
miles north and south along the coast from Old Point Comfort, 
and to include "all that space and circuit of land lying from the 
seacoast of the precinct aforesaid up into the land, throughout 
from sea to sea west and northwest." Surveyors, very prob- 
ably, would require some time for plotting the land from such 
field notes; and, of course, boundary troubles afterward came 
thick and fast. This charter was one of the bases of Virginia's 
claim, in later years, to the vast territory in the Northwest. 

Lord De Warr ruled for one year. The greatest improve- 
ment effected by his administration and that of his successor. 
Sir Thomas Dale, was the allotment of land to individuals for 
cultivation and private ownership of the ensuing crop. Before 
this time all things had been held in common, each man being 
duty-bound to give his labor to the colony in return for supplies 
from the common store — a rule that discouraged industry and 
frugality while it fostered idleness with all its attendant evils. 

The business part of the venture, however, was as yet unprof- 
itable and in March, 161 2, another charter was granted, giving 
still greater privileges to those having the affairs of the colony 
immediately in charge. This new charter placed the Bermuda 
Islands, or Somers Islands, under the control of the Virginia 
colony, and gave large authority to the governor-general of 
both with respect to the enforcement of law and punishment 
for crime. And, by this time, personal ownership of property 
had proved itself good. Men had worked the farms; the earth 
had borne increase; prosperity was at hand through the culti- 
vation of tobacco, the use of which soon spread throughout 
England and Russia in spite of laws and royal edicts. 



VIRGINIA 53 

During the administration of Dale the colonies were greatly 65. Puri- 
oppressed by severe laws concerning religion. Among other **°**^ 
things, they were required to attend divine service twice Virginia 
every day at the tolling of the bell, upon penalty of having 
their "allowance" withheld for the first offense of neglect, a 
whipping for the second, and for the third dereliction they 
were condemned to the galleys for six months. Each man 
must satisfy his minister as to the soundness of his faith. It 
was a capital offense to speak against "God's name" or the 
faith of the Church of England. 

Samuel Argall, who succeeded Dale in 1617, by his severity 66. Argall; 
drove the colonists to combinations in resistance to the royal Sandys 
authority; and there developed a degree of self-confidence and 
co-operation among the Virginians. 

When Sir Edwin Sandys became governor, he used his credit 
in giving the colonists more and more freedom in private life, 
and a greater voice in the government of the public affairs of 
the colony. 

In 1619, through a more enlarged policy in England, Governor 57. Repre- 

Yeardley, who was no less magnanimous himself, was sent out sentative 

. . ... government 

with the most liberal instructions for the governing of Virginia _ i(,ig 

that had, up to this time, been given for any colony. The 

quaint wording of his instructions was as follows: "That they 

might have a hande in the governinge of themselves yt was 

graunted that a general Assemblie should be helde yearly once, 

whereat were to be present the GovR. and Counsell with two 

Burgesses from each Plantation freely to be elected by the 

Inhabitants thereof, this Assemblie shall have power to make 

and ordaine whatever lawes and orders should by them be 

thought good and profitable for our subsistance." 

By this time there were in Virginia eleven settlements within 

a few miles of one another, and from each of these were elected 

two delegates called burgesses. These burgesses composed the 

first representative law-making body that ever assembled among 

the American colonists, a prophecy of larger things. They 

met with the council and governor in a little church in James- 



54 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



68. The 
first slaves 
— and 
others 



town in 1619. What the colonists would do must be referred 
to the council in England, but what the council would do must 
be referred to the colonists before it could be binding. The 
Virginia colony thus became the Training Camp of Freedom. 

In the same year a Dutch vessel brought to Jamestown and 
sold twenty African negroes, and thus began in America an 
extension of the slave trade that had been carried on with the 
West India islands and many parts of the civilized world. 
Kings and queens in those days shared in the profits of the 
slave trade, and there was no country in which it was legally 
condemned. Slaves were soon found to be profitable as laborers 
in the tobacco fields. The tobacco plantations were now pro- 
ducing about 40,000 pounds a year, which sold at a very high 
price in London. Affairs were looking much better; men with 
their families had come; in 1621 ninety young women of good 
character were brought over in company to share the pros- 
perity and happiness of as many bachelors; and such was the 
success of this enterprise that others followed; but not all 
immigrants even at this late period were "desirable citizens," 
for, of the lower and unfortunate classes, many convicts and 
vagabonds were enticed or entrapped and sent to America, 
some as indentured servants who hoped to find a generous 
master who would accept service in return for money to pay 
ship passage or prison fines. These slaves, for the time being, 
were afterward known as "indented" or "dented" servants.^ 
69. Local Yeardley's generous policy was continued and enlarged by 
ence^ alarms ^^^ successor, Sir Francis Wyatt, who came over in 1622 and 
the king brought a written confirmation of the liberties previously 
assmned and allowed. But now the king of England began 
to be right regally alarmed at the growth of local independ- 
ence and freedom in this advancing quarter of the world, and 



1 "If a deed be made by more parties than one, there ought to be regularly as 
many copies of it as there are parties, and each should be cut or indented (formerly 
in acute angles instar dentium, like the teeth of a saw, but at present in a waving 
line) on the top or side, to tally or correspond with the other; which deed, so made, 
is called an indenture." — Blackstone, Commentaries, II, xx. 



VIRGINIA 



55 



declared that the London Company's Virginia colony had be- 
come a " seminary for the teaching of sedition and opposition to 
royal authority." He had learned to doubt the wisdom, from 
a royal point of view, of admitting the liberal ideas of the mem- 
bers of the company, and had become as nervously sensitive to 
the manifestations of freedom and growing independence in the 
colony as any king "by the grace of God" ought to be. This 
sensitiveness of his gracious majesty was the real reason for 




Jamestown in 1622 
After a cut in the Scheeps-Togt van Anthony Chester na Virginia, 1622 

his revoking the charter in 1624; but in his great grief at the 
colony's loss through Indian troubles,^ he declared that because 
the company neglected to care for the plantations he would 
take matters into his own hands. Thus Virginia became a 
royal colony. She kept her assembly and continued to learn 
the ways of self-government and to advance toward freedom. 

^ In 1622 occurred the death of the Indian chief Powhatan who had been a friend 
to the EngHsh. There had been some friction, of course, between the Indians and 
settlers as the whites encroached upon the ancient preserves of the natives, but this 
had been held to a minimum by judicious governors and the Indian chief himself. 
Now that Powhatan, the friend of Captain John Smith and the father-in-law of 
John Rolfe, who had married Pocahontas, was out of the way, the Indians under 
Opecancanough, treacherously fell upon the English settlements on March 2, 1622, 
and slew about three hundred persons before they were repulsed. Jamestown 
itself was saved by a friendly Indian who revealed the plot, but too late to save the 
outlying settlements. A bloody war followed, and the colony lost about fifteen 
hundred of its four thousand inhabitants; but the Indians were at length decisively 
beaten and pushed back to make room for further settlement. 



56 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



70. A 

struggle 
with royal 
authority 



She was becoming the land of the country gentleman. Many 
families of wealth and refinement had come and had built com- 
modious dwellings in the midst of large estates. The planters 
had their private warehouses and wharves for handling their 
tobacco crops, which were being culti\'ated and gathered with 
the labor of indentured servants and a few negro slaves. 

In 1629 King Charles I, needing money in his contest with 
parliament, was looking to the tobacco industry of Virginia as 
a possible source of revenue. A royal governor, of course, must 
represent a royal majesty's will, so Sir John Harvey, the gover- 
nor, in his great desire to make the tobacco industry and other 
sources of revenue produce largely for his master, became odious 
through his schemes for taxing the people exorbitantly. The 
calling of the general assembly by the council and king to consult 
about revenue and other colonial matters, did not weaken the 
opinion among the people that they had the right to participate 
and to protest. The governor further alienated the good will of 
the settlers by his sympathy with Lord Baltimore's colony, 
planted on territory which belonged to Virginia under her 
charters. Matters came to a crisis when the colonists arrested 
the governor and sent him to England to stand a trial for 
violation of the laws. Some of the boldest went with him to 
prosecute the case. Nothing came of the charges. Harvey 
was exonerated, and he returned; but the Virginians were not 
molested for having dared to prosecute the royal governor. 
King Charles was annoyed, almost exasperated, by the audacity 
of his Virginia subjects, but he was prudent enough to vent his 
feelings in words only. He reappointed the genial Wyatt, who 
was much in favor with the colonists, and under his kindly 
influence contentment and prosperity returned. But the king 
was torn by a divided mind as well as a divided ministry at 
home. In his policy toward Virginia he vacillated between 
indulgence and severity. While his favors encouraged enter- 
prises which brought financial gain, they also tended to develop 
a spirit of independence as well as the ability to maintain it, 
much to the royal displeasure and embarrassment. In Berkeley, 



VIRGINIA 57 

however, the king was rejoiced to find a true exponent and a 
wiUing tool, who ruled the colony from 1642 to 1676, except 
for part of the Cromwell interval, from 1652 to 1659. 

In every division of sentiment or purpose in the colony, 71. The 

Berkeley was an open, intelligent, obdurate partisan for England. P^ntan 

1. ' u / 1 o supremacy 

He was a staunch churchman and, regarding both Puritan and in England 
Catholic with aversion and suspicion, he bristled at their presence 
as though they, instead of the savages, were the chief source of 
danger to his government. When Puritan thought and senti- 
ment engulfed England and placed Cromwell at the head of 
affairs, the Virginians were loyal to the king and showed willing- 
ness to engage in his defense against the "Roundheads." Dur- 
ing the period many families of distinction came over to Virginia 
in order to escape persecution at home, and the population 
increased from fifteen thousand to forty thousand within about 
two years. In fact, Virginia became a kind of Mecca for the 
sympathizers of the dethroned king. But Cromwell promptly 
sent commissioners to encourage a better mood; and with the 
appearance of the little frigate Guinea in the Chesapeake, all 
forms of resistance came to an end. The commissioners under 
the commonwealth were moderate in their demands. Liberty 
was granted generously, and the colony prospered under the 
protectorate. 

Far away from kings and thrones, the colonists,. or some of 72. Clai- 
them, were free to fight among themselves. Soon after Virginia ^'^'^^j ^°f 
had become a royal colony, William Claiborne, a vigorous, — 1654 
resolute Puritan, claiming Virginia as his home, established a 
trading-post on an island in Chesapeake bay, and carried on an 
extensive business in fur trading along the coast as far north 
as Newfoundland. About 1634, the year following that of the 
king's grant to the Calverts of the territory of Maryland, which 
was within the original boundaries of Virginia, Claiborne under- 
took to drive the Calvert colony away, but he was defeated and 
driven back to Virginia. In 1645 Claiborne tried again to dis- 
lodge the Marylanders, and succeeded in ousting Calvert for 
a time, but in his turn was driven back again to Virginia. In 



58 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

1654 Claiborne, as one of the commissioners, met a force of 
Marylanders at the Severn river and gained the ascendency. 
Three years later the matter was finally settled, and the Calverts 
held their territory. 

73. The In 1660 the monarchy was restored in the person of Charles II. 

Restoration; ^j^jjg dominating England, Puritans and Puritanism had 

effect upon _ _ "_ . 

Virginia— flourished in America, even in the Old Dominion, but now that 

the Stuart kings were again in power, a royal governor was 
again in control of the colony, Berkeley having been called from 
his country seat in Virginia, where he had retired when Cromwell 
became ruler. Oppression began; navigation acts were passed 
requiring all trade to be carried on with England and in English 
ships; heavy taxes were forcibly collected; creatures of the 
king were appointed to places in the colonial council; industry 
suffered; persecutions and dissensions dissipated the energies 
of the people, and the colony languished in all its interests. 
Land titles were disturbed and agriculture became unprofit- 
able through extortionate taxation; then came local confusion 
and consequent feuds. The governor, more interested in the 
fur trade and other business interests than in his obligation 
to serve the colony, permitted the marauding Indians to roam 
unmolested for fear his private revenue from trade with the 
tribes should suffer. Everything seemed upside down; it was 
a current saying that "a bullet would not pierce a beaver's 
skin." Yet the condition existed not through any variance 
of the law of cause and effect, but by reason of that law, and 
the people knew it and knew where to place the responsibility 
for the misery they endured. The unfortunate complications 
caused by the rule of a governor who was out of sympathy 
with the rising tide of democracy came to a crisis in the public 
protest that is usually called "Bacon's Rebellion." 

74. Bacon's Sir William Berkeley, of course, was a true royalist, and his 
1676^ ^°° ~ ardent sympathies were with the rich class that had come to 

the colony, and not with the poorer who were really the basis of 
Virginia's prosperity and who inevitably repaid the governor's 
aversion. The Indians harassed the border, but Berkeley failed 



VIRGINIA 



59 




to realize the gravity of the situation and neglected to provide 
protection. It was under these conditions that many men, 
thinking the time had come for action by the people, found a 
leader in young Nathaniel Bacon, who, placing himself at the 
head of a company, requested of the governor a commission 
to march against the Indians and restore peaceful conditions. 
But, seemingly given over to 
his idols, and, whether in- 
different or scornful in face 
of a popular demand, Berk- 
eley refused the somewhat 
irregular yet natural re- 
quest, and Bacon, with his 
men, believing that they had 
already crossed the Rubicon, 
marched against the Indians 
and defeated them. Then 
Berkeley cried insubordina- 
tion, outlawry, and treason, 
declaring Bacon a rebel, and as a consequence there resulted 
a state of civil war, in which Bacon attacked Berkeley, burned 
Jamestown, and drove the governor out of the colony. In the 
height of his success, however. Bacon died and his followers 
were scattered. Berkeley's policy of persecution now drove 
many of Bacon's followers to take refuge in other colonies, 
notably in Carolina. Berkeley's severity drew from Charles II 
the famous statement: "That old fool has taken more lives 
in that naked country than I for the murder of my father." 

These events occurred just one hundred years before the 
Declaration of Independence. Bacon's war was the "little fire 
that kindleth a great matter," or the smoking flax that after- 
ward became the conflagration that lit up the dark places of 

the earth. 

T-> I 1 11 1 1 1 , , 75. Berkeley 

Berkeley was recalled, but one bad governor succeeded recalled; 

another until the climax was reached and repeated in Sir Francis William 

Nicholson. These governors levied exorbitant taxes on tobacco; College 



/ / 
Bacon and Berkeley 



6o 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



they even manipulated the coinage in their own interests. 
Nicholson did these things, and more: he persecuted and hanged 
men who opposed him. The political conditions, intolerable 
if permanent, contained power for future good; out of the 
misrule and suffering there steadily grew opposition to arbitrary 
government and a determination to combine in order to resist it. 
In the closing years of the century, Rev. James Blair was sent 
to England to procure a charter for a college, and returned with 




College of William and Mary 

After a lithograph made from a drawing by Thomas 
Millington, about 1740 

the charter of "William and Mary," to be located at Williams- 
burg, which was the capital after the burning of Jamestown. 
This was the second American college. Harvard being first and 
Yale third. 

By this time the colony, after passing dangerously near 
annihilation in 1609, had grown from the one hundred forty- 
three men who came in 1607, to a vigorous and permanent 
society, consisting of nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants. 



76. The 
Calverts 
and the 
Maryland 
charter 



MARYLAND 

About twenty-five years after the landing at Jamestown, 
George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who was a member of the 
Virginia company, having become greatly interested in coloniza- 
tion plans, obtained from King Charles I a grant of land which 
had for its northern boundary the fortieth parallel, and its 



MARYLAND 



6i 




southern, the south bank of the Potomac river to a point near 
its mouth. From this point the Hne was to run across the bay 
to "Watson's point," and the western boundary was to be the 
meridian passing through the western source of the Potomac 
river. The territory within the described limits had been in- 
cluded in the grant of the 
Virginia company, but the 
king reclaimed the right to it 
on the ground that every 
grant reverted to the crown 
when the charter was re- 
voked. 

Lord Baltimore had first 
attempted to establish a 
colony in Newfoundland, but 
a winter there had convinced 
him that the climate was too 
severe. So, with many of his 
associates, he had gone to 
Jamestown, where he received 
no welcome because he was a 
Catholic. He then sailed for 
England and sought and obtained a charter to what is now 
Maryland. But he died before the charter was in his posses- 
sion, and his son Cecilius Calvert obtained the charter and 
proceeded with his father's unfinished task. 

In November, 1633, Cecilius Calvert sent out his brother 
Leonard with two hundred colonists, who settled at St. Mary's, 
on the north bank of the Potomac river. Claiborne's hunting 
camp on Kent island was within this territory (72). 

Lord Baltimore is greatly distinguished for his tolerant spirit 77. Notable 

in regard to the religion of others. Although he had suffered *^*^^''*®.'' 
* ° * provisions 

some forms of persecution for his faith, he not only refused to 
retaliate, but even welcomed the Protestants to his colony. 
With great power granted by the king, he used it in the ways 
of peace and friendship. He might have forbidden the coming 



Cecilius Calvert, Lord 
Baltimore 

After a portrait in the British Public 
Record Office 



62 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

of any person of any sect, but he invited every sect, even the 
Puritans of New England. 

The proprietary was almost regal in power. His only obliga- 
tion to the king as expressed in the charter was to pay two 
Indian arrows a yeps in acknowledgment of his fealty. Such 
a tribute, however, though trivial as to value, shows the fact, 
back of all charters, that the king was the court of last resort 
in all things. 

The charter was remarkable for the provision that the colony 
should be governed by the proprietary and the people. At 
first all the people met and passed all laws, such as they desired. 
Later, the scattered settlers preferred to elect representatives. 
In 1650 the representatives of the people, or burgesses, sat 
as the lower house, and the councillors summoned by the pro- 
prietor sat as the upper house. About the only trouble they 
had concerning government related to the question whether 
the people or the proprietor had the right of initiative in calling 
an assembly, and that question was comj)romised. 

78. The Protestants and Catholics came to Maryland in the first 
Act^— 1640 shipload of immigrants, and they lived together for many years 

in peace. It was the time of the Thirty Years' War in Europe, 
the chief phase of which was religious. The discord of the sects 
disturbed England, and its consequent influences, of course, 
reached all the colonies with greater or less effect, and began to 
become troublesome in Mar^'land in spite of charter provisions 
and of laws. In 1649 the assembly passed an ordinance that 
no man should be molested in his religion or his worship, pro- 
vided only that all must believe in the doctrine of the Trinity 
or in the Christian religion. 

79. The During the ascendency of Cromwell in England the Puritans 
contror^ "" gained control of Maryland, persecuted the Catholics, and 

deprived the governor and the proprietor of their rights. But 
with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Calvert also was 
restored to power, the toleration act was again in force, reli- 
gious and political freedom once more prevailed, and the colony 
prospered in spite of its troubles. 



MARYLAND 6^ 

The troubles of the colony may be stated briefly: (i) Religious 
controversies which were largely results of English conditions. 
(2) The boundary disputes; among them, those which gave 
Claiborne ground for causing trouble. (3) The navigation acts, 
which embarrassed planters in shipping their goods. In 1691 
Maryland became a royal colony.^ 

The general conditions and possibilities of the eastern coast 80. The 

in these latitudes had been made known to the English through ^^^sons of 

'^ ° Jamestown 

the Jamestown experiment, and the Maryland proprietor and 

colonists had known before they came over that a better living 

could be made in their country by digging up trees and sowing 

seeds than by prospecting for gold or by seeking water routes 

to India. Having learned a lesson in government also, they 

divided their law-making body somewhat after the plan of the 

Virginia assembly. Worthy settlers continued to come into 

the colony, attracted by the liberal government, its tolerance 

in religion, and its solid basis of prosperity. 

Wheat and corn were grown in large quantities, but tobacco 81. General 

was the chief agricultural export. Manorial estates, the best f°'^^^*^°'^^ 

conditions of rural life, and government by the county as a unit 

developed naturally, as in Virginia. Almost all the people were 

English, and they were united rather than divided by the many 

arms of the great Chesapeake, which facilitated communication 

and aided in promoting a commerce that was fast becoming 

important. 

SUMMARY 

The English people took strong hold of the matter of colonization at the 
beginning of the seventeenth century as a natural part of their national 
expansion in everj' direction. Their settlements developed under the great- 
est difiliculties; but habits were formed and policies were matured that left 
a permanent impress upon American life. Both slavery and representative 
government had become well established institutions in Virginia and ]\Iary- 
land by the close of the seventeenth century. Resistance to royal authority 
in these two colonies had several times shown the temper of their citizens 
and had pointed the direction of future developments. Religious questions. 

' The heirs of Lord Baltimore held thenceforth the relation of landlords to 
the colonists, and this relationship was not ended until the Revolution. 



64 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



often agitated the settlers, especially in Maryland, where the spirit of 
toleration and freedom was strong from the beginning. Population in- 
creased steadily in spite of hardships, and the industries, particularly the 
cultivation of tobacco, became well established. On account of the pre- 
dominance of agriculture, the county system of government was adopted — 
a system that afterward extended itself to all the southern colonies and 
became the type of all southern political local organization. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. WTiy did the English become active colonizers about the beginning of the 
seventeenth century? 2. What difference was there between Raleigh's attempts 
at settlement and those of the London company? 3. What was the chief weak- 
ness of the Jamestown government in the beginning? Why? 4. Representative 
government was introduced in Virginia in 1619. Is the representative idea very 
prominent in our political institutions of today? In our religious, social, and busi- 
ness organizations? 5. Negro slaves were first brought to Virginia in 1619. Has 
this fact had any bearing upon our political history? religious history? sodal 
history? economic history? educational history? Show how in each case. 6. 
Make a list of the incidents in this chapter that exhibit the spirit of democracy. 
7. Think of two adjectives that describe the character of the institutions Virginia 
and Maryland were building during this period. 8. Trace on an outline map of 
North America the limits of the Virginia charter of i6og. What complications 
might be expected to arise from this charter later? g. Enumerate the incidents 
related in this chapter that reflect conditions in England. 10. What was the bound- 
ary line between Maryland and Virginia according to their charters? Can you see 
any possible difficulties that might later give them trouble? 




A Maryland Shilling 



CHAPTER V 
THE SOUTHERN COLONIES (Concluded) 

REFERENCES 

Thwaites, The Colonies; Hart, Contemporaries; Hart, The American Nation; 
Channing, Students' History U. S.; McCrady, South Carolina under the Propri- 
etary Government. 

THE CAROLINAS 

In 1663 Charles II granted "all the region lying south of 82. The 
Virginia, extending from 31° to 36° of north latitude, and west- '^^g^^^^'^ 
ward across the continent from ocean to ocean" to a number 
of his supporters. The names written in the instrument are 
very familiar today: Clarendon, Albemarle, Craven, Berkeley, 
Ashley, Carteret, Colleton — names attached to important geo- 
graphical or political features on the map of the Carolinas. 
In 1665 the grant was extended to 36° 30' north, and south to 
the twenty-ninth parallel. 

The charter provisions were quite simple and generous, 
guaranteeing religious liberty and making it possible to invite 
settlers of any faith. The lords proprietors were empowered to 
make any law "with the advice and assent and approbation of 
the Freemen of the said Province, or of the greater part of them 
or of their delegates or deputies." However, the proprietors 
were authorized to make ordinances in emergencies without 
the advice of the people, provided that such ordinances were 
reasonable and not repugnant to the laws of England. The 
assembly could meet on its own initiative, a rule which might 
have saved Maryland from trouble and Virginia from oppres- 
sion (73, 74, 77). New settlers were exempt for five years from 
prosecution for debts contracted elsewhere, and from taxes for 
one year. A somewhat peculiar provision of the charter em- 
powered the proprietors to confer upon any one, who through 
his deserts or services was worthy, such marks of favor and 



66 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

titles of honor as they saw fit, provided only that these titles 
should not be the same as were conferred in England. This pro- 
vision probably was the origin of Locke's Grand IVIodel (85). 

83. The Possibly there were already three hundred white families in 
fettles- ^^^ Carolinas Afhen Charles II granted the charter of 1663. 
1653-1662 One group had been conducted from Virginia by Roger Greene 

to a site on a bay known afterward as Albemarle sound; this 
settlement was begun in 1653.^ Another was begun near by in 
1662 by some Dissenters and Quakers under George Durant; 
they came from Virginia and ]\Iar}-land, where they had been 
made very uncomfortable. 

84. Sir In the same year in which the final charter was issued, 1665, 
Yeamans at ^^'' J*^^^ Yeamans, with a company of colonists from Barbados, 
Cape Fear landed at the mouth of Cape Fear river and attempted a 
"^®'' settlement, where they hoped to find relief from governmental 

oppression." They called their settlement Clarendon. Before 
leaving Barbados, Yeamans had been already commissioned 
governor of the county of Clarendon and of all the territory 
as far as Florida. But the governor of so great a territory 
and so few inhabitants returned to Barbados, abandoning 
the colony, which dissolved before the close of 1667, some of 
the colonists joining the Albemarle settlement, some going to 
Virginia, and others to New England. 

85. Locke's Mr. John Locke, the English philosopher, was secretary to 
^"co^ti-" ^°^^ Ashley, one of the proprietors. Ashley requested Locke 
tutions to formulate a plan of government for the Carolinas, and the 

philosopher drafted his Fundamental Constitutions, July 21, 
1669. In derision the settlers called this instrument the Grand 
Model. Taking advantage of the vice-regal authority conferred 
in the charter, it provided an intricate system of government 
suited to a dense population, if suited to anything, rather than 
to a few settlers in a new country. Society was to be classi- 

^ The Duke of Albemarle, one of the proprietors of Carolina, was the famous 
General Monk who, in command of the army of the Commonwealth, had been so 
important a factor in the restoration of the Stuarts. 

^ "The government of Charles II had levied a tax of four and a half per cent on 
the produce of the island." — McCrady's South Carolina, I, p. 70. 



,THE CAROLINAS 67 

fied into strata, which were to be forever fixed. There were 
signories, and baronies, and landgraves, and caciques, and 
eight supreme courts. Doubtless there would have been 
dukes and earls and lords but for the restriction in the charter 
(9). Each of the proprietors was to have a high office with 
a large income. Powers to tax were limitless. The colonists 
never understood the provisions of the Grand Model, though 
for almost thirty years the proprietors endeavored to enforce 
them whenever an instrument of oppression and extortion 
was needed. 

The few Albemarle colonists were now struggling for physical 
existence. The navigation acts were enforced, ruining their 
West Indian trade and putting the means of cruel extortion into 
the hands of the English shipowners. The governors sided with 
the proprietors, and the wretchedness of the settlers became 
pitiable. 

While the Albemarle settlers were growing in numbers and 86. The be- 
ware having commercial and political troubles, the first settle- ^'J^'",^^! °^ 
^ . ^ ' Charleston 

ments in what is now South Carolina were being made. In— 1670 
August, 1669, three ships, the Albemarle, the Port Royal, and 
the Carolina, with two hundred emigrants, sailed from London, 
bound for Port Royal harbor in Carolina. The Albemarle was 
wrecked at Barbados, and another vessel was procured. Then 
the Port Royal was cast away on one of the Bahama islands. 
Lives and valuable cargoes had been lost. Port Royal harbor 
was reached in March, 1670; there it was determined to proceed 
farther north. In April the Carolina sailed into Charleston 
harbor, and the emigrants landed on what they named Albe- 
marle point on the Ashley river, and at once began to con- 
struct a town with fortifications. The next year, however, the 
settlers began a removal a few miles to the site of what became 
Charleston. 

The first governor was William Sayle, almost eighty years 87. Gover- 
of age, yet under all the circumstances perhaps the best man°°^^^^'® 
for the office. The Carolina sailed to Virginia for more pro- Governor 
visions, Virginia by this time being rich and prosperous. The West— 1671 



68 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



surrounding Indians, called the Kiawhas, were friendly; they 
had hostile neighbors on the south, and were very willing to 
have the whites for allies. Still, the colonists kept on their 

guard, both against 
Indians and Span- 
iards, for Spain 
claimed this coun- 
try as a part of 
Florida, and at St. 
Augustine there was 
a fort garrisoned by 
some hundreds of 
her regular soldiers. 
A Spanish fleet 
might appear in the 
harbor any day. 
There was politi- 

— cal trouble in South 

- Carolina. Locke's 
Fundamental Con- 
stitutions proved 
impracticable, and 
compromises had to 

be worked out. Governor Sayle did his best, but he was con- 
fronted by "strict constructionists" who demanded that he 
follow the letter of the instrument — that is to say, demanded 
the impossible. 

The Carolina returned to Albemarle Point with a cargo of 
provisions, and sailed in September for Barbados, from which 
island more than a hundred new emigrants took ship for Albe- 
marle Point early in 167 1. There were reenforcements in that 
year from the Dutch of New York also, and from England. 
Governor Sayle died in the spring of 1671, and was succeeded 
by Joseph West. There were now about four hundred persons 
in the colony. 

But Yeamans, who had abandoned his people at Cape Fear 




A Spanish Galleon 



THE CAROLINAS 69 

and had returned to Barbados, appeared in Charleston, built 88. Yea- 

a home there, and soon succeeded, with the help of the Funda- ™^f , 
. . . . supplants 

mental Constitutions, in having himself appointed to supplant West; and 

West, whom the council had elected to fill what we might call ^®^! , 

° supplants 

"an unexpired term." The proprietors made West a cacique Yeamans 
and appointed him "registrar of writings." Yeamans brought 
from Barbados to Charleston his negro slaves, the first that 
came to the colony. Unpopular from the first, the troubles of 
the colony made him more so. Political bickerings, friction 
with Indians, the escape of slaves and white criminals to the 
Spaniards, combined to make his rule odious because of his in- 
ability to deal with such conditions. The proprietors at length 
superseded Yeamans with West, whom they made a landgrave 
in order that he might, under the Grand Model, be qualified 
for the office of governor. 

West held the ofhce until 16S2; and under his wise guidance 89. West's 
prosperity began and continued. Other settlements sprang up ^^^® . 
near Charleston, and the Huguenot accession to the colony tion; West 
began. The country was explored as far west as the moun- '' g™"^®** ~ 
tains; treaties were made with the Indians, and trade with the 
natives was greatly increased; their land was bought with 
beads and trinkets; and the Grand Model was disregarded. 

Prosperity was beginning to come — at first through trade 
rather than through agriculture. The colonists exported skins, 
furs, and valuable wood to England; and with Jamaica and 
Barbados and other islands exchanged pitch, tar, timber, and 
provisions for sugar, molasses, rum, and ginger. They sold 
Indians as slaves to the West Indies, and brought back negro 
slaves to the colony; the Indians, most likely, had been captured 
in war by other Indians, as the negroes had been captured in 
war by other negroes. In the eyes of the whites both were 
looked upon as commodities of trafiic; and the bargaining for a 
negro or an Indian was regarded not in the light of morals, 
but of ex-pediency.^ Yet the proprietors thought it was very 

^ It should be remembered that, for a hundred years after these times, the rules 
of civilized warfare permitted a conqueror to dispose of the conquered in any abso- 



70 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

wrong for the colonists to sell Indians on their private account, 
for such trade was considered one of their own peculiar privi- 
leges according to their grant; so Governor Joseph West was 
removed from office. 

90. Troubles Meanwhile the Albemarle settlements were having troubles, 
*" J'"*'^ yet were increasing in population and advancing to a condition 

of stable prosperity. The people, sturdy and independent from 
the first, developed a strong attachment to free institutions. 
They resisted the government under the Grand Model, and even 
dared to banish one of the governors sent over from England. 
Their refusal to obey the navigation acts persisted to the point 
of offering violence to their governor and his council. There 
was an end of the troubles when the proprietors gave up their 
efforts to enforce the provisions of the Grand Model. 

From the time of West's retirement until John Archdale be- 
came governor, a period of twelve years, there were no less than 
ten changes in the office. During this period troubles increased; 
the people at one time, through their representatives, declared 
they would be governed only by the charter, and not by the 
Grand Model, but the governor persisted and there was a 
dead-lock in the assembly. Violence followed and the governor 
proclaimed martial law; but without the strength to enforce 
it, he was compelled to ignore the infraction. At times there 
was little of real law administered in the colony. The gover- 
nor whom the Albemarle people had banished sought refuge 
at Charleston. Confusion reigned; many people welcomed 
him back as a possible improvement upon the incumbent, and, 
being one of the proprietors, he had legal right on his side, and 
summoned a parliament and had his rival banished. 

91. Cover- John Archdale came out as governor of both colonies, and with 
nor Archdale ^^^^.^j. ^^ appoint a deputy-governor for North Carolina. There 

had been, and there still were, very great troubles concerning 
quit-rents exacted by the proprietors; these troubles Archdale 

lute way he might choose. Even Frederick the Great, in the eighteenth century, 
forced thousands of captured enemies to take service under his banner; and in South 
Carolina itself, the British in the Revolution, justified, with this rule, their treat- 
ment of prisoners. 



GEORGIA 71 

had authority to settle, and in settling them he rendered valuable 
service. He was willing to remit all arrears up to the last 
quarter of 1695, provided the remaining debts were secured and 
measures taken to secure the prompt payment of the quit-rents 
in the future.^ 

Under Archdale the management of Indian affairs was fortu- 
nate; and it is interesting to know that in his administration 
an act was passed prohibiting the "sale except by license from 
the governor, of any beer, cider, wine, brandy, rum, punch, or 
any strong drink whatsoever, under the quantity of one gallon 
at one draught." When he was ready to leave for England, the 
assembly gave him an address of thanks, praising his pacific 
government; but after his departure the troubles were renewed. 

It was plainly impossible for these early Americans to live 
under a constitution that seemed made for serfs. The Grand 
Model was practically ignored in 1696; the proprietors con- 
tinued to find difficulty, and in 1729 they ceded to the crown 
all rights to govern the colony with all property in land except 
one-eighth. The Carolinas thus became two royal colonies, and 
so remained until the Revolution. 

GEORGIA 

Georgia is unique in the purpose of its establishment, 92. James 
which was neither religious nor financial, but purely philan- chlrter'of^* 
thropic. James Oglethorpe, the founder, served as chairman Georgia 
of a committee on prisons in the House of Commons, and 
became familiar with the prisons and prison conditions of 
England. He saw many honest but unfortunate men deprived 
of their liberty for debt without hope of release. His great 
heart was touched, and he determined to give the remainder 
of his life to the relief of the sufferings that he saw. 

' Seemingly a sort of tax on land, the quit-rent was a render of money or its 
equivalent instead of services due a superior. A survival from feudalism, it gave 
trouble in every colony in which it was collected. McCrady, in his South Carolina 
under the Proprietary Government, has the following, Vol. I, p. 190; "This land 
was to be to them and their heirs forever, with the reservation of a penny an acre 
quit-rent to the Lords Proprietors." 



72 THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

In 1732, George II granted to Oglethorpe and his fellow 
"Trustees of Georgia" the land between the Savannah and the 
Altamah rivers, and from their courses westerly to the South 
seas. The territory was part of that originally granted as 
Carolina, but the king had purchased the rights of the Carolina 
proprietors (91). 

The charter provided for "liberty of conscience in the worship 
of God to all persons except papists." Great power was given 
to the trustees; they might prepare all laws for the government 
of the colony, subject only to the approval of the king. 

93. Settle- Oglethorpe himself came out with the first settlers. They 
SaTaUah ^^^^"^ ^" November, 1732, and in January, 1733, Oglethorpe 
— 1733 selected a site for his colony near the mouth of the Savannah. 

The Georgia charter, in regard to land, was different from that 
of any other colony. The trustees could have no interest in any 
lands of the colony; nor could they grant more than five hun- 
dred acres to any one person. But an actual settler obtained 
smaller tracts without charge except for the cost of surveying 
and transferring. There could be no monopoly in land so long 
as Oglethorpe was at the head of affairs, nor could there be 
trouble concerning quit-rents which some of the colonies had 
to pay on granted land. "Only those who were willing to pay 
sweat for the soil could procure lands in this colony." 

94. Reia- Oglethorpe wished to avoid trouble with the Spaniards and 
the Indians ^^^ Indians; the former, however, he must largely leave to the 

foreign policy of England; but the Indian relations must be his 
special care. So he promptly made a friend of Tomochichi, the 
head chief of the natives near Savannah. Moreover, he paid 
the Indians for their land, and the report of his fair dealing 
spread far and wide through the wigwams, west and south. 

Debtors released from prison, Salzburghers fleeing because, 
of religious persecution, Scotch Highlanders, and Moravians 
came and helped redeem the wilderness. 

95. Slavery The trustees had forbidden the introduction of slaves and 
and rum , . . . _ , . , 

the importation of rum. Each of these measures was an 

innovation, and criticism and complaint quickly followed. 



prohibited 



GEORGIA 



73 



Georgia was the only colony that forbade slavery; the other 
colonies were enjoying a lucrative trade in slaves, and the critics 
asked, "Why not Georgia?" As to rum, the New Englanders 
were making hogsheads of it, and becoming rich on the manufac- 
ture and sale of it; Georgia was simply standing in her own 
light. Nor could the Carolinians, or the Virginians, they said, 
move into Georgia, because they were forbidden to bring their 




Early Savannah, Georgia 
From a London print dated 1741. Dedicated to General Oglethorpe 



slaves. Such a policy, it was argued, tended to isolate Georgia 

from the world, and to place her at a great disadvantage in 

the race for population and prosperity. 

In July, 1739, Oglethorpe, with but half a dozen attendants, 99. War 

set out on a notable journey for the purpose of making a treaty ^^^ the 

•in,- T ,. •, . , . , . Spaniards 

01 peace with ail the important Indian tribes within the territory 

covered by his charter. Spain was assuming a very threatening 

attitude, and the great trustee, foreseeing that his beloved 

colony must be drawn into war, wished to be ready for action as 

soon as possible. He met the chiefs of the Creeks, the Choctaws, 

the Chickasaws, and other tribes at a place called in the Creek 

tongue Coweta, on the upper Chattahoochee; all terms were 

speedily arranged, and Oglethorpe smoked the calumet with the 

redmen. His next step was to go to England for the purj50se 

of procuring help; and it is said that "he raised, equipped, and 

disciplined a regiment of 600 men, and in less than a year 



74 



THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 



returned to Georgia, bringing with him the newly levied troops." 
The English government had decided not to await attack from 
the Spaniards, and had ordered General Oglethorpe to attempt 
the reduction of St. Augustine. Oglethorpe obeyed; and in 
command of an army of 2000 men appeared before St. Augus- 
tine, but the works of the Spaniards, as well as their numbers, 
seemed too strong to justify attack. In 1742 the Spaniards 
retaliated by invading Georgia. Oglethorpe's forces were 




Ruins of Oglethorpe's Fort at Frederic.\ 



97. Georgia 
a royal 
colony 
— 1752 



greatly inferior, but he bravely confronted the enemy, and 
after two or three small combats, was enabled, by a fortunate 
stratagem, to cause them to give up the campaign. 

In 1743 General Oglethorpe, having placed the colony on a 
good basis, and having granted the demands concerning rum and 
slavery, transferred the government of the colony to the "Presi- 
dent and Assistants of Savannah," and went to England. 

In 1752 when the trustees surrendered the charter to the 
crown, there were about 23,000 white inhabitants in the colony, 
and perhaps a thousand negroes, slavery as well as rum having 
been admitted. From this time until the American Revolution, 
Georgia remained a royal colony. 



GEORGIA 



75 



SUMMARY 

The Carolinas were first settled by wanderers from the other colonies, 
but in 1663 the English government granted a charter to certain nobles as 
proprietors, who governed the colonists until 1729 through proprietary 
representatives according to a Fundamental Constitution drawn up by 
John Locke. There was constant friction between the governors and the 
governed, the issue being generally matters involving the rights of the 
colonists. 

Georgia, settled in 1732, was peculiar in several particulars. Settled 
late, it enjoyed the help of the other colonies in many ways. It alone had 
hostile relations with the Spaniards, unless South Carolina be excepted. It 
was founded upon philanthropy, pursued the most liberal land policy, for 
a time prohibited rum and slavery, and submitted to the rule of one man. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Compare the power of the Carolina assembly with that of the Virginia and 
Maryland assemblies. 2. What, in your opinion, were some of the chief weaknesses 
of the Fundamental Constitutions? 3. Is there such a thing as a form of govern- 
ment that is suitable under all circumstances? Illustrate. 4. In what occupations 
did the people of the Carolinas first engage? What later? 5. Was there any moral 
objection to slavery in the Carolinas or elsewhere at this time? 6. Show why 
Georgia's was a composite population almost from the first. 7. Give an estimate 
of the character and work of James Oglethorpe. 8. Why did the Georgians submit 
more completely than the rest to the government given them? 9. Why was it 
especially necessary that Georgia keep on good terms with the Indians? 10. Ogle- 
thorpe was not a democrat in any sense. Why did he riot help the king in the war 
of the Revolution? 




Seal of the Georgia Colony 



98. Ex- 
ploring the 
Hudson 
River — 
1609 



CHAPTER VI 
THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

REFERENCES 

Thwaites, The Colonics; Fiske, The Dutch and Quaker Colonics in America; 
Hart, Contemporaries; School Histories. 

NEW YORK 

In 1609, a little before the time when the colonists at James- 
town were d}-ing of hunger, Henry Hudson sailed in his Half- 
Moon into a most commodious harbor and up the noble river 
which now bears his name. Although an Englishman, Hudson 
was in the service of the Dutch East India company, one of 
the most successful of the strong commercial organizations of 
Amsterdam; and he was coming to attempt the deed demanded 
of every great seaman — the discovery of a short route to the 
East, the land from which his patrons, at so much expense of 
time and of money, obtained the rich stuffs that supported their 
commerce. Hudson had at first tried to sail aroimd the north of 
Europe; failing, he remembered that he had a letter and a map 
sent him by a friend, a certain John Smith, who was somewhere 
in the wilderness of America. So he turned his prow to the west, 
and in due time sighted the coast of Maine; thence he continued 
southward to the Chesapeake, hoping to find a good waterway 
through the continent. Then turning back, he explored Dela- 
ware bay, and sailed up the Hudson until the water became so 
shallow that he was convinced he could never reach China by 
that route, so he returned to Holland and made his report — a 
report of failure. Yet he, like Columbus, had succeeded. He 
had learned that the country was wonderfully good, and that 
it abounded in fur-bearing animals, for he had examined the 
shores on both sides of the river; and he had talked much with 



NEW YORK 



77 



the Indians, and they, under the charm of a pecuhar water he 
gave them to drink, had talked much to him, becoming exceed- 
ingly garrulous for a time; nor did the shrewd captain of the 
Half -Moon exercise the arts of blandishment in vain, as the 
French could soon testify; for just about this time Samuel 
Champlain was over on the lake that bears his name, diligently 
engaged in shooting Iroquois Indians; and it is a significant fact 
of history that these people, who long separated the French 
colonies on the north from the Dutch on the seaboard, were 
always the friends of the Dutch and enemies to the French. 




New Amsterdam in 1656 
After Van der Donck's New Netherland 

Through private enterprise, interested in the fur trade with 99. Settle- 
the Indians, voyages were made to the Hudson river region by Dutch West 
Dutch vessels, but Holland, hesitating because the country was India 
claimed by both England and Spain, took no official action of 
importance until 1621, when the Dutch West India company 
was given almost limitless authority over a grant of land "from 
Newfoundland to the Straits of Magellan," the longest con- 
tinuous line of sea-coast ever claimed by any group of mortal 
men. Under this company, trading posts were established at 
New Amsterdam, at Nassau (so named by Adrian Block in 
1 614, but soon moved a short distance and called Fort Orange, 
and ultimately Albany), and at Fort Nassau on the Delaware 
river. These posts grew in population, and trade with the 
Indians flourished. 



78 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



100. Con- 
ditions in 
New 

Netherland 
— 1630 



By this time it had been proved to the world, by both Virginia 
and Massachusetts, that America is a habitable country; so in 
1629 the Dutch West India company set about attracting to 
New Netherland people who w^ould build homes and become 
citizens, instead of those whose only purpose was to buy furs 
from the Indians and take them back to Holland for sale. 
Land was cheap and it was good; to 
attract settlers, the company had the 
"concessions" drawn up, providing that 
any member of the company who should 
introduce fifty colonists over fifteen years 
of age should have a tract of land with 
sixteen miles of river-front (eight miles if 
he chose both sides of the river) and ex- 
tending as far back as other grants would 
admit. The patroons, as the great land- 
holders were called, must bear the ex- 
pense of transporting the colonists and 
furnishing them with tools and provisions 
for beginning their work. The patroons 
became lordly, and almost regal in 
authority over the colony. The Dutch 
claimed all the land along the North 
river (Hudson) and the South river (Delaware), and on these 
rivers lay the great estates. 

The Dutch were thrifty and shrewd; they attended to business 
in season and out of season. Their colonies were planted on a 
fertile soil and in a favorable climate. Politics and theology 
were old world matters which in the new country did not absorb 
them quite all the time. Their colonies flourished. Immi- 
grants came from many quarters — from north and south, and 
from beyond the sea. It is said that in 1643 eighteen languages 
were spoken in New Amsterdam. 

The patroons were wealthy and defiant of authority. In- 
dividual members of the company acquired immense tracts of 
land and became almost feudal in their thought, their purposes, 




Dutch Patroon or 
Landed Proprietor 



NEW YORK 



79 




and their power over their tenants. This attempt to renew the 
institution of a past age continued for more than a hundred 
years. The fortunes of many rich New York families were 
begun by these rich patroons. The tax riots in New York two 
hundred years later resulted from efforts to collect back taxes 
on the Van Rensselaer estate. 
The patroons cared less and still 
less for the rights and welfare of 
their tenants, in this respect re- 
peating the history of other land- 
lords of early times. 

The company began to reform 
conditions by greatly reducing the 
sizes of the land grants, and by 
forcing upon the patroons a form 
of local government in which the 
colonists themselves had a hand. 
Many Englishmen had found their 
way into the Dutch colony, and 

the undemocratic condition grated After the portrait in the posses- 
,1 Ti • -1,1 r sion of the New York His- 

upon them. It was impossible for jorical Society 

them not to have heard of the 

house of burgesses down in Virginia, and of the selectmen 

and town meeting in Plymouth. 

In 1 64 1 the colonists compelled Governor Kieft to call a 
council of twelve deputies from the settlements to consult with 
him about the treatment of the Indians and about taxes. 
Later, Governor-General Stuyvesant selected a council of nine 
from a list nominated by popular vote; and thus representative 
government began in New York. 

Some Dutch immigrants had gone as far south as the Dela- 101. Clash 
ware river, which they called the South river, and had made ^\t n^j 
their settlement at Nassau, on the Schuylkill, near the site of Swedes 
Philadelphia. These people were almost annihilated by the 
Algonkins, and the remnant joined with others in obtaining a 
charter from Sweden (117), hoping for better protection than the 



Peter Stuyvesant 



8o 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



102. New 
Netherland 
becomes 
New York 
under the 
English 



mercenary Dutch had afforded them. "The South Company 
of Sweden," 1636, sent out a colony under Peter Minuet, 
formerly a Dutch governor, the genius who had bought Man- 
hattan island from the Indians for twenty-four dollars. Minuet 
built a fort, which he called Christina in honor of the Swedish 
queen, on the site of the future Wilmington. 

Governor-General Kieft with great awkwardness brought on 
a disastrous conflict with the Algonkins, and Governor Peter 
Stuyvesant, he of the "wooden leg and bad temper," disputed 
the rights of the English on the Connecticut river, but in the 
time of the New England Confederation he learned his error 
(141). He deserves military honors, however, for capturing 
Christina, and political credit for obliterating the Swedish claim 
to the country. 

In 1664 King Charles sent a fleet to demand the surrender of 
New Amsterdam. The thrifty colonists were tired of the war- 
like governor "who strutted like a peacock — as if he were the 
Czar of Musco\y," and they frankly informed him that he must 
surrender. In fact, these good people seemed to care little who 
was pope or king so long as trade was brisk, and crops were 
bountiful, and Virginia sent them good tobacco; so the conquest 
of New Netherland was bloodless. The king gave the territory 
to his brother, the Duke of York; hence the name. Fort Orange 
was anglicized so far as to change its name to Albany, from 
another duke and another brother. Colonel Nicolls, who had 
captured the Dutch fort, was made governor, and promulgated 
rules of government, known as the "Duke's Laws," which pro- 
vided for town meetings and elections, a constable, and eight 
overseers; and for the county meeting, to look after taxes 
and other matters of important general interests, all to be 
supervised by a sheriff. The people were industrious, and 
they confined their industry to sane pursuits. Therefore they 
prospered, for they were under fairly liberal laws; there was 
the beginning of self-government in the "riding," or county, 
yet above this, so far as they were concerned, every power 
was absolute. 



NEW YORK 



8i 



The king had given a part of the territory — the part that 103. Per- 
afterward became New Jersey — to his favorites, John Berkeley session of 
and George Carteret, two of the proprietors of the Carolinas. the colony 
Such transfers of ownership of great bodies of land had inevitably 
confused land titles and brought other annoyances. So, when 
the Dutch fleet appeared before New York in 1673, the settlers 
were quite willing that their old rulers should return to power: 




The Stadthuys, New York, 1679 
After Brevoort's drawing. (" Stadthuys " is Dutch for " statehouse.") 



the town rejoiced, and the fort surrendered without resistance. 
It was little more than a year, however, until the treaty of peace, 
signed at Westminster for England and Holland, stipulated the 
cession of New York to England; and with this permanent 
acquisition England's possessions on the North American coast 
were continuous from Maine as far south as Florida. 

At the time of the extinction of the Dutch political power, 
there were about seven thousand people in New York, along the 
Hudson and Mohawk rivers, on the farms, and in the camps of 
pioneers and trappers. Thrift was apparent on all sides. 



82 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



Among the notable governors of the period may be mentioned 
nor Andros;gjj. E(jjj^Qn(^ Andros, afterward prominent and even unpopular 



104. Gover- 
nor Andros 
tyranny of 



James II 



105. Leisler; 
his death — 
1691 



in New England (145). He encouraged thrift and enterprise, 
and exerted his influence on the side of the colonists in their 
controversy with Berkeley and Carteret concerning the dis- 
turbance of land titles. But at the same time he was a mere 
tool in the interest of the Duke of York, the owner, against the 
colonists. His opposition to Berkeley and Carteret, who were 
court favorites, cost him his office. He was succeeded by 
Thomas Dongan (1683). The pressure had become so great 
from the democratic tendencies of Virginia and New England 
that Dongan was compelled to call an assembly, elected by 
"freeholders and free-men." This assembly, with the king's 
consent, shared authority with the governor and council. Reli- 
gious toleration was established bylaw; all taxation required 
the consent of the assembly; but the laws were of no force 
without the sanction of the duke. 

The advantages gained, both in politics and religion, were 
temporarily lost when the Duke of York became James II of 
England, and immediately put an end to the assembly, and 
caused the Church of England to be established. In 1688 New 

York was annexed to New 
England, with Andros as 
governor, and Francis 
Nicholson became some- 
thing like a lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of New York under 
Andros. 

Later, in 1688, Jacob 
Leisler, a rough German 
ex-soldier, raised a company 
and drove Nicholson out. 
Leisler ruled the colony vigorously and awkwardly for three 
years. His administration was signalized by the meeting of 
the first colonial congress which took place in New York in 
February, 1690. This convention was called mainly to devise 




Jacob Leisler's House 



NEW JERSEY 83 

ways and means of defense against the Frertth and their 
Algonkin allies, who had become very troublesome in their 
attacks on English settlements; this was the time of what 
was called King William's war, in which occurred the burn- 
ing of Schenectady and of Salmon Falls. 

In 1 69 1 the first royal governor. Colonel Slaughter, compelled 
Leisler to give up the o£&ce. In a drunken debauch Governor 
Slaughter yielded to the persuasion of Leisler's enemies and 
had him executed. Leisler had been too democratic. 

A new assembly was called and a degree of liberty was again 106. Im- 
restored. But progress was slow, owing to the disgraceful P''"^!'! 
administration of Governor Fletcher, who was paid by pirates Beliomont' 
for harbor privileges, and who generally invited and accepted 
bribes. In 1698 the Earl of Beliomont was appointed gov- 
ernor, and again New York was placed under a governor with 
New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Beliomont 
died in 1701. 

The century closed in this wholesome administration, with 
the colony prosperous materially and enjoying a degree of self- 
government. When New York should be blessed with free local 
institutions was only a question of time. 

NEW JERSEY 

The Duke of York granted to his friends, Lord John Berkeley 107. The 
and Sir George Carteret (103), a great part of the peninsula ^^^^^y^^^ 
between the Hudson and Delaware rivers; and it was named its govern- 
New Jersey. The territory included the old Dutch settlement ™®°* 
of Nassau, while along its borders the Dutch, Swedes, and 
English had settled under authority of patents issued by three 
governments. 

Profiting by the experience of older colonies. New Jersey 
organized a government consisting of a governor, councilmen 
appointed by the proprietors, and an assembly elected by pop- 
ular vote. The power to annul a law was, however, reserved 
by the proprietors. Freedom of worship was allowed. Philip 
Carteret, nephew of Sir George, came out as governor. 



84 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

108. The Because of» great troubles in the colony between the pro- 
Jf.^^yf prietors and the people on account of quit-rents (91) Berkeley 

sold his interest to some members of the Society of Friends, or 
Quakers. In 1676 Sir George Carteret and the purchasers of 
the Berkeley interest agreed upon a boundary line ''drawn from 
Little Egg harbor on the Atlantic coast, to a point not far from 
Minisink island in the Delaware river." The seat of govern- 
ment for East Jersey was Elizabethtown ; that of West Jersey, 
Burlington. There was now very liberal government. 

109. The West Jersey passed into the hands of William Penn and 
Jerseys other Quakers; and, after the death of Sir George Carteret, 
united under East Jersey also was purchased by Penn and a few associates 
^^°^ of different creeds. 

In 1688 the proprietors surrendered to the king all rights in 
resjKXt to government, but retained their rights to the lands. 
Sir Edmund Andros, governor of so many colonies (145), had 
a claim to New Jersey also as part of his jurisdiction, but he 
gave the people no trouble. In 1702 the proprietors surren- 
dered all claims, and New Jersey became a royal province. It 
had its own assembly, but no governor until 1738, being under 
the go\'ernor of New York, who appointed a deinity for New 
Jersey. 

110. New When royal authority took control, the king's representatives 
Jersey a organized a government resembling in some ])articulars that 
province which had previously e.xisted. Freedom of worship was allowed 

to all, but Catholics had no political rights; and only free- 
holders of two hundred acres of land, or those owning property 
\alued at fifty pounds or more, were permitted to \-ote. 

The population was composed of people from many lands. 
Besides the Dutch and the Swedes, immigrants had come from 
England and from New England, while troubles at home had 
caused many Scotch Presbyterians to come to New Jersey. 
Aggrieved or persecuted men with their families came from other 
colonies. The climate was mild, the soil was rich, the water- 
ways gave promise of a great commerce in the future, and the 
government was liberal; everything conspired to make New 



PENNSYLVANIA 



85 



Jersey a state that would be limited in power only by the 
narrowness of its boundaries. 

PENNSYLVANIA 

The founder of Pennsylvania was the son of an English ad- 111. King 

miral. While he was at school he became imbued with the^^f^'^^ 

sells 
spiritual ideas of the Quakers, a new religion propagated bypennsyi- 

John Fox, to the great displeasure of the admiral, his father, who ^^""^ ^°'' 

endeavored to dissuade the boy ; but through 

all his life William Penn held stoutly to the 

two cardinal tenets of his religion : the right 

of the individual to perfect freedom, and the 

duty of the individual to follow the "inward 

light," or his conscience. 

At the death of his father, Penn found 
himself heir to a claim on the English crown 
for £15,000, a loan with which the admiral 
had favored Charles I when that monarch 
was in dire necessity. Charles II was now 
on the throne, and Penn solicited the pay- 
ment of the debt, not in money, which he 
knew the profligate king would refuse from ^ ^th^Sntury"^ 
inability to pay, even though he were will- 
ing, but in lands in the American wilderness, and he found his 
debtor not averse to a settlement that cost nothing. 

Penn had previously, and charitably, become interested in 112. Bound- 
the Jerseys (109), and in offering the bargain to Charles, he had ^^^s of 
in mind the settlement of a great colony where soil and gov- purchase 
ernment should be a refuge for the distressed, not only of his 
greatly persecuted brethren the Quakers, but of all mankind, 
regardless of creed. So Penn became proprietor of what he 
wanted to call Sylvania, but to which the king — charming in 
a personal way — prefixed Penn in spite of all protest. 

The land thus granted in 1681 was bounded south by the 
fortieth and north by the forty-third degree of north latitude, 
and it stretched westward from the Delaware for five degrees 




86 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



of longitude — a country greater in agricultural possibility than 

England itself. The boundaries of this imperial domain were 

not surveyed, and of course trouble arose afterward. 

113. Penn's In order that he might have a good outlet to the sea, Penn 

toriower^^ bought from the Duke of York a large body of land farther 

counties; south, and on the west side of the Delaware river and bay. 

immigration ^j^j^ territory had already been settled to some extent by Dutch 

and Swedes; later, it was divided into three counties. 







Reduced Facsimile of Part of the Royal Deed given to Penn 



In publishing his plans, Penn made a strong effort to induce 
the persecuted Quakers to settle in his colony, but others also 
were invited. His land was offered at very low rates, about ten 
cents an acre, and on very liberal terms. 

Immigrants came rapidly to Pennsylvania, the land where 
freedom was proclaimed — freedom in government and reli- 
gion, and proclaimed by a man in whom the immigrants could 
have utmost confidence. Penn himself came over in 1682 with 
a hundred settlers, and in that year founded Philadelphia. 
114. Penn's Penn's form of government, which would now be called a con- 
stitution, provided that the people should elect both assembly 
and council, the proprietor appointing the governor. Thus he 
put to the test his belief in the ability as well as the right of the 
people to govern themselves. No one could be a citizen, how- 
ever, who did not beUeve in God; and no citizen could hold 
office unless he professed the Christian religion. The punish- 
ment of criminals was to be a means of saving them, not a means 
of retaliation. Children were to be taught useful employment, 
and the Indians were to be treated fairly, honestly, and kindly. 



liberal 
government 



PENNSYLVANIA 



87 



and he remained away 116. Pros- 



In his absence his affairs ^^" ^' 

Penn's 



In 1684 Penn returned to England 
from his colony for fifteen years 

in the colony were administered by governors whom he ap- Indian 
pointed. These years were prosperous. The cheap land, the^"'*^^ 
bountiful harvests, the liberal rule, all combined to attract 
settlers. Dutch, Germans, 
Swedes, Welsh, Englishmen, 
and men from other colonies 
came to the land of liberal 
things. 

On his arrival in the col- 
ony in 1699, Penn assembled 
the chiefs among the Indians 
and smoked the peace pipe, 
and began a friendship that 
was abused but rarely. In- 
deed, Pennsylvania, until the 
English themselves stirred up 
the redmen in the time of 
the Revolution, was notably 
free from violence on the 
part of either race toward the other. Penn's Indian policy 
was no less astute than it was humane. 

The boundaries named in Penn's grant, unmarked as they had 116. Mason 
been in any actual survey, could not be satisfactory to the^^^. ^^^""^ 
increasing population in its demands for homes. The southern Charter of 
boundary especially was confused on account of the grant to the "^ ^^^^ 
Calverts. Moreover, the Swedes and the Dutch down the bay 
contended that their land had never been Penn's because it 
certainly was not in the charter from Charles II. The dispute 
as to the boundary between Penn's colonies and Maryland was 
not settled until 1732, when the heirs of Penn and of the 
Calverts agreed upon the present boundaries of Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and Delaware. Part of the line was "run" by two 
English surveyors named Mason and Dixon; and their names 
seem immortalized in the political nomenclature of the Union. 




William Penn 




88 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

In 1 701 Penn framed his Charter of Privileges, which, with 

respect to the council and the election of the assembly, placed 

the government on about the same basis 

as those of the other Middle colonies; and 

then he required that all laws should be 

approved by the proprietors. As in New 

York, so in Pennsylvania, the government 

was a blending of the town government of 

New England with the county government 

of the Southern colonies. 

At Penn's death, the heirs fell into ran- 

--■-5!w».^? corous contention and lawsuits, which 

Penn's Treaty i^g^ed until the Revolution settled them. 
Monument 

DELAWARE 

117. Early Henry Hudson, a week before he entered New York harbor, 
settlements j^^^ sailed up Delaware bay, searching the shores for the hoped- 
for strait that would lead him through an isthmus into the 
South sea; and though he found no great waterway, he gave 
the Dutch a claim to the country. It is possible that Thomas 
West, Lord Delaware, the governor of Jamestown, explored the 
bay in the year following Hudson's visit, for his name was 
given to it. 

A small Dutch colony came out in 163 1, and after purchasing 
land from the Indians, settled at what they called Swanandael, 
on the west side of the bay, not very far above Cape Hen- 
lopen. Before the end of the year they were all slain by the 
Indians. 

The first permanent settlement on the west side of the Dela- 
ware was effected by Peter Minuet, a Hollander, with a com- 
pany of Swedes. Minuet, after serving as governor of New 
Amsterdam, had returned to Holland, and thence had gone to 
Sweden, where he succeeded in reviving an old colonization 
scheme of Gustavus Adolphus. Under the patronage of Queen 
Christina, Minuet, with a colony of more than fifty persons, 
sailed from Sweden in 1638 and settled in what is now the state 



DELAWARE 89 

of Delaware. To honor his queen he called his fort and town 
Christina. Minuet bought land from the Indians, and thus, 
according to Roger Williams's theory, had a far better right to 
the country than either the Dutch, whose claim was based on 
Hudson's discovery, or the Calverts, who claimed the territory 
as part of their grant from King Charles I. 

Of course, the Dutch at New Amsterdam protested; but more 118. Con- 
Swedes came out to Delaware, or New Sweden, and they went j)ytch and 
so far as to build a trading post on the east shore. Swedes 

These earliest colonies, Swede and Dutch, were more inter- 
ested in the fur trade with the Indians than in agriculture. 
The unsettled shores of Delaware bay, with all its arms and 
inlets, caused mutual jealousy of Dutch and Swedes, while the 
furtraders among the English of Calvert's colony became 
obnoxious to both New Sweden and New Amsterdam. "The 
only measures in which the Dutch and Swedes could unite 
harmoniously in carrying out were such as would keep the 
English from gaining a footing on the river." But while trade 
was growing, the colonists continued to come, and farms were 
laid out, and permanent occupancy seemed assured. 

Then Peter Stuyvesant thought it was getting high time 
for him to step in (101), and the result was that after a fort- 
night's campaign Fort Christina fell into the hands of the 
Dutch, and the Swedish colony, as a political body, became 
extinct. 

When William Penn obtained his grant and began his settle- 119. Politi- 
ments in Pennsylvania, he bought Delaware from the Duke^j^^g 
of York, and it became known as the "Lower Counties," "the 
Territories," "the Delaware Hundreds," etc. The people here 
never took kindly to Penn's government and were troublesome. 
They were separated and reunited once or twice during 
Penn's experiences up to 1703, when Delaware was given a 
separate assembly, though it remained under the same gov- 
ernment with Pennsylvania until the Revolution. For a long 
time it was more Lutheran than Quaker, and more Dutch 
than English in sentiment and social life. 



90 THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

Political conditions in the Delaware colony depended largely 
at first on the Dutch power in New Netherland nd afterward 
upon the more modern influencu of Pennsylvania. 

SUMMARY 

New York was settled by the Dutch about the time the English settled 
at Jamestown and at Plymouth. The settlers were essentially commercial 
by nature and were well situated geographically for the development of 
business enterprises. The Dutch patroons accumulated vast wealth and 
laid the foundation for great estates which have figured prominently in 
later years. The colony fell into the hands of the British in 1664. In 
population it was cosmopolitan almost from the beginning, while in govern- 
ment it partook of the nature of its New England neighbors on the one 
side and its Southern neighbors on the other. As a matter of fact, govern- 
ment and religion were not primary factors with the shrewd business men of 
the Hudson valley. 

New Jersey was settled a half-century later by the Dutch, the Swedes, 
and immigrants from the other colonies and England. As in New York, 
politics was secondary to business, though it often exhibited leanings toward 
democracy. 

Pennsylvania, founded by the Quakers in 1681, grew very rapidly under 
d well executed scheme of colonization, and in less than a quarter of a 
century it had a population of twenty-five thousand English, Welsh, Scotch- 
Irish, German, Moravian, and other inhabitants. It was liberal in both 
politics and religion and was generally associated with Delaware which 
had been granted to Pcnn in 16S2 by the Duke of York. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What factors in the early life of New York may be seen in her present life? 
2. If Henry Hudson had accomplished his purpose, would New York have been 
settled i)y the Dutch? 3. Is there any evidence today ihat the Dutch once 
occupied New York? 4. Do you know of a piece of American literature that has 
for its background Dutch life in New York? 5. Can you think of some feature of 
New Jersey's government that showed the influence of neighboring governments? 
6. Should you like to live in a state in which the conditions for voting were the same 
as those in New Jersey? 7. Why did Pennsylvania grow so rapidly from the 
first? 8. Discuss two very prominent traits of William Penn's character. 9. How 
was the Mason and Dixon line established? 10. Why did not the Middle colonies 
develop a distinct type of government of their own? 



CHAPTER VII 

THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Thwaites, Colonies; Fiske, The Beginnings of New 
England; Channing, i; Larned, History for Ready Reference. 

Sources. — Haxt, American History Told by Contemporaries; Old South Leaflets; 
MacDonald, Select Charters. 

Illustrative Material. — • Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish; Hemans, 
Landing of the Pilgrims; Whittier, The Garrison of Cape Ann; Longfellow, John 
Endicott; Webb, The Pilgrims of New England; Seaton, Romance of the Charter 
Oak. 

ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT 

In the year Jamestown was founded, the Plymouth company 120. The 

sent to the mouth of the Kennebec river a colony of more than ?^5°°ebec 

. River 

a hundred people under the immediate direction of George settlement 

Popham. The winter was severe and the Indians were hostile. ~ ■'^"'^ 
]\Iany of the settlers died; others were disappointed, even in 
despair. The leaders lacked courage, and the colonists them- 
selves lacked fortitude. They had not come, but they had 
been sent, to found a colony. As a consequence, those who 
survived the winter were glad to return to England in the 
following spring. 

In the interests of English traders and merchants, Captain 121. John 

John Smith, in 1614, visited the coast of north Virginia, to which Smith 

names New 
he gave the name New England. He brought back a cargo of England — 

fish and furs, and his success stimulated other explorers, who l^^"^' ^^® 

^ ' Gorges 

gained knowledge of the country and further developed the fish charter 

and fur industry. ^^^° 

In 1620 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and about forty associates 

applied for a charter and obtained a grant to all territory from 

sea to sea lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallels 

north latitude. The terms of the charter, extremely liberal, 



92 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

gave exclusive rights in trade and in administration. The- 
grantees, however, were apparently unable to make a success- 
ful permanent settlement, and were on the point of failing 
altogether when a crisis in England brought unexpected help 
to the company. 

CONDITIONS IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY 

122. Reli- In studying the primal sources of American life it was found 
feeling- the ^^^^ Europe was undergoing a marvelous democratic move- 
Puritans ment (13), and that this movement was making itself felt in 

every phase of action and of thought. In England one impor- 
tant result was the separation of the Church (1534) and the 
establishment of the independent English Church. To this 
new organization a majority of the English people belonged, 
particularly the rich and the official classes. But there were 
many who objected to the formalism still retained, and de- 
manded a greater degree of spirituality and less of ritualism in 
their worship. In their revolt against medieval conditions this 
class had gone farther than their brethren. They were part 
of the advance guard in that great army of reformers who for 
nearly a century had abandoned medieval habits of thinking 
and feeling. Because they wished to purge the Church of what 
to them seemed corrupt practices they were given the name of 
Puritans, but the Puritans were divided into two classes — 
conformists and nonconformists, or conservatives and radicals. 
The former class wished to purify the English Church by remain- 
ing within it, while the latter, sometimes called Dissenters, un- 
able to work conscientiously within the Church, withdrew from 
it and formed congregations of their own. Moreover, the Dis- 
senters were of two kinds — the Presbyterians (followers of 
Calvin, Knox, and Zwingli) and the Independents (also called 
Separatists and Brownists). 

123. The Under Elizabeth's judicious home policy and under the 
intole^rance ^^^^^^ ^^ foreign complications, the religious differences had been 

kept somewhat in the background, but no sooner had James I 
come to the throne than all the discordant elements of English 



CONDITIONS IN THE MOTHER COUNTRY 93 

society began to be active. In the Hampton Court conference 
(1604) James gave everlasting offence to the Puritans, who 
had expected lenient treatment at the hands of the new king. 
With the same indiscretion he offended the Catholics and 
other religious bodies. Thoroughly bigoted, both by nature 
and by training, and unable to interpret the changing needs 
and wishes of his people, he came early into conflict with his 
Parliament and with all the advanced thought of the time. 
The people had borne with Tudor despotism for a century, 
because of poverty and oppression due to the previous long 
period of feudal wars, and because foreign relations demanded 
a strongly centralized government. Now that England had 
established herself as the first of the Protestant states, and by 
the same stroke had won the commercial supremacy of the 
sea, she was free to follow her own racial instincts in matters 
of religion and government. 

In the economic field, also, there was ground for dissatisfac- 
tion. True, the material conditions had been improved greatly 
in the time of Elizabeth, and with the increased enlightenment 
of the age people were unwilling to tolerate much that they 
had previously considered inevitable. The feeling of discontent 
and unrest which was everywhere manifest in religious, polit- 
ical, and economic affairs might have continued for a time with- 
out serious results if James had been as tactful as Elizabeth. 
But his imperious temper, his intolerance toward every move- 
ment that did not originate with the king, his despotic bigotry, 
and his continual blustering about his pet "doctrine of divine 
right" brought on a crisis in England that immediately led 
many self-respecting men to seek for better things elsewhere. 

It was under the pressure of such conditions that the little 
Scrooby congregation of Independents sought relief first in 
Holland and later in America. The story of their sojourn in 
Holland and of their subsequent removal to New England is 
the familiar possession of every school child. We are more in- 
terested here in the manner in which they organized themselves 
and began the process of establishing their institutions. 



94 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



124. Found- 
ing of 

Plymouth — 
1620; the 
" May- 
flower " 
compact 



125. Forti- 
tude of the 
Pilgrims 



126. De- 
veloping 
Plymouth 



THE PILGRIMS 

Contrary to their original purpose, they landed, December 
22, 1620, in north Virginia within the territory granted in the 
early part of the same year to the new Plymouth company of 
Gorges and his associates (121). From this company they soon 
received a patent giving them the right to colonize and to trade. 
Thus the new Plymouth company was saved and the first 
permanent EngHsh settlement in New England was established. 

In the meantime, naturally impelled to maintain order, and 
realizing perhaps that they were without the jurisdiction of the 
Virginia company where they had intended to settle, the Pil- 
grims, as they had styled themselves, drew up a compact, or 
agreement, by which they organized themselves into a body 
politic and began the institutional life of New England. The 
forty-one men on board the Mayflower signed this compact 
and elected Deacon John Carver governor of the one hundred 
and two settlers. 

The experience of the first winter is important chiefly in 
showing the temper of these first colonists. Poor housing, 
inadequate and unwholesome food, and the lack of sufScient 
clothing for a New England winter produced sickness. Gov- 
ernor Carver and about fifty other members of the colony died. 
Ordinary men would have given up in despair, but there was no 
weakening on the part of these zealous and hardy Puritans. 
They preferred even the hardships that bereft them of friends 
for a time to the restraints that denied them their liberties. 
In the following autumn they received recruits, replenished 
their food supply from the season's produce, built more log 
houses, and began to feel themselves very much at home. 

The years following the first winter were little less discour- 
aging. The T'ilgrims had been compelled, by lack of supplies 
and means of transportation, to receive into partnership a 
number of London capitalists. It had been agreed that there 
should be a common storehouse to which each man's labor was 
to contribute, and from which all were to draw the necessities 



THE PILGRIMS 95 

of life. At the end of seven years the assets of the company 
were to be distributed in proportion to the shares held. This 
rule naturally led to disputes between the colonists and their 
London partners, with the result that in 1624, in order to avoid 
actual starvation, each man was given one acre of land for his 

^f-HtX.^Ccf'i^ijfyfUirL- -^t-rvAofy ^ff.^ts ere. '^,nJ<.t-y,rrt/<rrt. 

£jr -f/iejk ^■*^tjt-r*fs Sofc-mniy (t^-tniA-t-u-cc^ ■'^J^i'fe-Jexct. of ^otf^anif 
^et-fcnce- «//■««<// c^-^<r<^j ^^^ /r y'tTALt. /Ce^rrof 4e t^<x7^C, 

tvixck -JVC yr-omifa- a.C? tf^e, ^t/i^i^o-" ^^'^ of^tt^enc^- (;^-»>K4rtzs 
'yt>/Uv^erf ^t Aa.^t Acr^-irnihr- ^u.^Jcf<ie.(f o^f n«»»ier a:/ Ca.^=. 
CoMj n cftXcu.Cf*t^<!-V-^Jyt<xyrofyVcn^e of o-^f Sov<.eir,^f^ 

A-nJ of Sct^fa-rxd y J^_^&- fo-^'yrik.^-n: x)o^^ ■ 1 ^Oz 

The Compact drawn up on Board the " Mayflower " 

A facsimile from the History of Plimoth Plantation, by Governor 
Bradford; in the State House, Boston, Mass. 

exclusive use, upon condition, however, that his holding should 
return to the community at the end of the seven years. It is 
important to note that these parcels of land were clustered 
around the town, because of danger from the Indians and 
convenience to the church. This custom proved afterward 
one of the factors in developing the distinctive form of local 
government in New England, and eventually in giving color to 
civic institutions in America. At the end of the seven years, 
the colonists had accumulated enough through the fur trade with 
the natives to buy out their London associates and become 
independent of foreign control. Individual initiative developed 



96 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



127. Rela- 
tions with 
the Indians 



128. An 

early 

democracy 



129. Plym- 
outh 
merged 
with Mas- 
sachusetts 
— 1691 



rapidly. New colonists of like spirit came; other towns sprang 
up around the original colony; population reached the three- 
thousand mark by 1643; and local industries furnished profit- 
able employment to all who came. 

In her dealings with the Indians, Plymouth was more fortu- 
nate than most of the English colonists. A pestilence in the 
New England region had almost annihilated the natives about 
the future Plymouth, so that the Pilgrims found only one Indian 
near the harbor. He became their friend and proved a useful 
ally in the conquest of barren soil and icy waters. Likewise, 
the colonists had fortunate relations with Massasoit, chief of the 
tribe of Pokanokets, upon whose outlying lands the Pilgrims 
had settled. 

In matters of government, Plymouth was from the beginning, 
very democratic. A primary assembly chose the governor and 
his assistants until it became inconvenient for the voters of 
the new settlements to attend en masse. When this condition 
arose, in 1638, the representative system was adopted, perhaps 
under the influence of the system already in vogue in the 
Massachusetts colony (132). The general court thus estab- 
lished gradually acquired the right to make laws as well as to 
administer them, but the freemen continued to vote in local 
assemblies upon all matters of purely local interest. 

The colony made three attempts to obtain a charter, but 
failed each time. Finally, in i6gi, after the revolution which 
placed William and Mary on the throne, she was merged with 
Massachusetts, and her later history is blended with the larger 
history of the combined settlements. The importance of Plym- 
outh's influence upon American political and social life can 
scarcely be overestimated. As the oldest of the New England 
group she unconsciously offered forms and ideals for the others. 
From the beginning her people were practically free from royal 
interference, and hence worked out their own free institutions. 
By reason of their early hardshi])s, and through the spirit of 
religious brotherhood, they learned the lesson of cooperation, 
which proved so useful to them and to all the colonists in their 



MASSACHUSETTS 



97 



struggles with the Indians and French, and later in their contest 
for independence. America owes a great debt to the sturdy, 
zealous Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth. 

THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 

Some of the merchants in Dorchester, England, desiring to 130. The 
plant a settlement on the coast of Maine, sent out, in 1623, a ^^^^j^^^^j^^g 
group of colonists, who, as in the case of the Pilgrims, missed 
their landing place and settled 
at Cape Ann, the site of 
Gloucester. They failed, how- 
ever, and after three years of 
disappointment most of the 
settlers returned to England, 
while the remainder moved to 
a site later known as Salem. 
In the meantime, the Stuart 
intolerance in England had 
led even conservative conform- 
ists to seek relief from tyr- 
anny. Accordingly, John 
White, rector of Trinity 

church, Dorchester, began "raising a bulwark against the 
kingdom of Antichrist" in New England. In 1628 a patent 
was obtained from the Plymouth company to a strip of terri- 
tory almost sixty miles in width, extending from three miles 
south of the mouth of the Charles river to three miles north 
of the mouth of the Merrimac, and westward from these 
points to the South sea. In the same year John Endicott 
brought sixty recruits to the colony of Salem, and in the 
next year King Charles granted the patentees a charter pro- 
viding for annual popular elections, for a primary assembly, 
and for the enactment of laws in conformity with English 
laws. Since the charter did not stipulate that the seat of gov- 
ernment should be in England, the Massachusetts Bay com- 
pany, seeing that political and religious conditions in England 




John Endicott 



98 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



were becoming worse from day to day, decided to transfer 
its powers to such of its members as would emigrate to 
America. Accordingly, in August, 1629, many prominent 
Puritans formally agreed to leave England and make their 
homes in Massachusetts, and thus the English trading company 
was changed into an independent American colony. 










!w'^^?^!lf^^ 



t*^^*.»»-5.r..*.^t--^fc«».V'/>-'--» %•''■' 







Reduced Facsimile of the Heading, Signature, and Seal of the 
Massachusetts Charter of 1628-1629 

The company was composed largely of imcompromising 
Puritans, whose abiUty and energy supported a courageous 
devotion to principles. A majority of these men were broad- 
minded and well educated, and their ideals in religion and poli- 
tics were far in advance of those of the average Englishman. 
They were not Separatists in principle, but they soon became 
so in act. Far removed from the influence of the mother 
church and already out of sympathy with much of its ritualism, 
the Massachusetts Bay settlers soon became as independent as 
the most radical Puritans. They early abandoned the prayer 
book and established "congregational" churches, which bore 
many of the distinguishing marks of Calvinism. They gave 
impetus to the development of local institutions under genuine 
English instincts. 



MASSACHUSETTS 



99 



In 1630 the colony was reenforced by one thousand immi- 131. The 
grants, and during the decade beginning in 1630 probably twenty ^^^} q"^'' 
thousand Englishmen, impelled by the conditions prevailing in 1630 
England at the time, landed on the shores of Massachusetts. 

The struggle of the Stuarts with Parliament over the nation's 
purse and the conflict between Puritanism and Episcopacy 
had reached a crisis. The Petition of Right, 1628, which 
sought to stay the hand of despotism and give English citizens 
greater security of life and property, was ruthlessly invaded 
by the king in 1629. Parliament was dissolved, the leaders 
were sent to the Tower, and 
Charles I began his per- 
sonal rule, which lasted un- 
til 1640, when his war with 
the Scots forced him to 
summon Parliament and 
ask its aid. The period of 
Puritan supremacy now be- 
gan in England, and the 
tide of emigration really 
turned from America back 
toward the mother coun- 
try. But in the mean- 
time, Massachusetts, Meeting-house at Hingham, Mass. 

■Du ] T 1 J /^ 4.- Erected in 1681 

Khode Island, Connecti- 
cut, and New Haven had ^•■°"^ Winsor's Narrative and Critical 

History 
been firmly established by 

men who feared God and loved liberty. In England the issue 
between despotism and freedom possibly hung in the balance 
for another hundred years, but in America, after 1640, there 
could be no doubt as to the outcome. 

According to the charter, the stockholders of the corporation 132. A rep- 
had control of the government, but in 1631 it was decided gj^^g^j 
that the franchise should be granted only to church members. 
These, together with the governor, were to meet quarterly in 
primary assembly. It was not long, however, before the free- 




loo THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

men of the neighboring towns found it inconvenient to attend 
the assembly; accordingly the assistants were empowered to 
choose the officers and to make the laws. In the same year the 
assistants were granted the privilege of holding office indefi- 
nitely, subject only to recall by the freemen. This looked 
too much like autocratic rule to the freemen of Watertown, 
who now declined to pay a tax levied by the body of assistants, 
on the ground of taxation without representation. When the 
matter came before the general court, the Watertown conten- 
tion was sustained and a representative assembly was estab- 
lished (1634). Naturally, the plan of the English Commons 
was adopted, two deputies being sent by the freemen of each 
town, and the governor and his assistants taking part in the 
deliberations. In the same year, voting by ballot was intro- 
duced, and ten years later the plan of having two chambers, or 
houses of legislature, was adopted. Thus the "assistants" 
were an upper house, or Senate, and the deputies, a lower house. 
In 1636 Lord Say and Sele and Lord Brook proposed the estab- 
lishment of hereditary nobility in the parliament, but the 
settlers rejected the proposal; they wished for no conditions 
such as they had so recently escaped. Again, in 1638, it was pro- 
posed to set up a permanent council for the government of the 
colony, and again the freemen refused to accede. It is worth 
while to note once more how often and how persistently these 
sturdy. God-fearing New Englanders asserted the principles of 
self-government. The democratic character of the colonists 
is nowhere better shown than in their relation to the mother 
country during the first decade. 
133. Pros- Population increased, and wealth grew rapidly, owing to the 

perous, profitable fish, lumber, and fur industries, and the coastwise 

intelligent, . 

and trade with the colonies. Commodious dwellings were begin- 

deternuned j^jj^^ ^^ ^^y^^ ^^^ place of log houses, Toads and bridges to be 
constructed, the stock industry to flourish, and the air of prog- 
ress to stir ever^'where. In 1636 £400 was appropriated for 
founding a college at Cambridge to the end that "the light 
of learning might not go out, nor the study of God's word 



MASSACHUSETTS 



lOI 



perish." Two years later Reverend John Harvard added £800 
to the sum first given, and the college was named in his honor. 
News of this material and intellectual development, and reports 
concerning religious independence in the colonies, aroused the 
jealousy of some people and the suspicion of others, and led 
the English government to revoke the charter of Massachusetts. 
Accordingly, a royal commission of twelve men was sent over 
to receive the charter, but the men of Massachusetts refused 




•^ r' Pi !8 |§ w cjI^-^'^' "' 







" V Prospect or the (oiilucis in C vmbridc l in \i\\ 1n(1\nu" 

After an early picture in the possession of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society 

to lay their charter before the privy council as demanded and 
prepared to resist the authority of the commissioners by force 
of arms. They fortified numerous posts, established arsenals, 
drilled militiamen, and prayed for divine guidance. In the 
meantime, the English government officially declared the 
Massachusetts charter null and void and imprisoned her com- 
missioner Winslow, who had been sent to make peace with 
the authorities. Another order for the surrender of her charter 
followed, but was likewise disregarded by Massachusetts. The 
king was now ha\dng so many troubles of his own in trying to 
rule without a Parliament that he had neither time nor money 
to spend in suppressing defiant colonists three thousand miles 
away. 



I02 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



134. Roger 

Williams 

and 

religious 

freedom 



RHODE ISLAND 

But determined as the Puritans were in resisting despotic 
authority, they were no less determined in maintaining uni- 
formity in their own institutions. This fact is exempUfied in 
the familiar stories of Roger Williams and Mrs. Anne Hutch- 
inson. Williams was an educated Puritan minister, who emi- 
grated to Massachusetts in 1631. As pastor he immediately 
opposed the policy of restricting political privileges to church 
members. He went further, and opposed the union of church 
and state in any form. He declared to the Plymouth colonists 
that the king had no power to grant land to them, and that the 
only righteous way of obtaining land in the New World was 
through purchase from the Indians. He denounced compul- 
sory attendance at church and refused to accept enforced con- 
tributions to religious puqDOses. For these advanced views he 
paid the penalty of banishment. When Williams heard of the 
intentions of the magistrates to send him to England, he fled 
to the woods with five associates and founded the town of 
Providence, just south of Massachusetts. In keeping with 
his doctrine, he "bought the land" of the Indians and estab- 
lished his colony on a political and religious basis broader than 
that of any other American colonial government. Catholic 
Maryland had previously set an example to the colonies in the 
toleration of Dissenters; and now Rhode Island, through the 
wisdom and statesmanship of Roger Williams, gave the whole 
world an example in the establishment of a state in which a 
man's religion in no way afifected his political rights. If the 
separation of church and state, naturally resulting from the 
doctrine of religious freedom, and if the giving of a distinctive 
character to American institutions have any virtue, then the 
people of the world, and especially those of the United States, 
owe a debt of gratitude to the heretic of Salem. 
135. Mrs. But Roger Williams did not have the exclusive honor of 
Hutchinson founding Rhode Island, for through eagerness to maintain uni- 
formity of doctrine and worship, Massachusetts had exiled an- 



CONNECTICUT; NEW HAMPSHIRE; MAINE 103 

other religious agitator, Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, whose teachings 
were perhaps somewhat Hke the modern doctrine of a sin- 
less life. At any rate, she was not orthodox in New England, 
although she was received with favor by 
such distinguished ministers as Cotton, ^^ 

Hooker, and Wheelwright. She was looked jP^^fei* 

upon as a disturber of the peace and an M^^'^yK 

enemy of the state, and was consequently JfE^^^-0<^ 

placed on trial as such, and, upon convic- M^^^^^j^ 
tion, was banished from the colony in 1637. ^MM^jp^' 
She went to Rhode Island, and with her ^ Mmt^ 
followers and the assistance of Williams, |l|'^' j 
founded the two towns of Portsmouth and tdBj^^ 
Newport. In 1644 all the settlements in that *^™^|' 
region obtained a charter from the Long Par- ^^^^, 

liament through the agency of Williams, and 1^^^^^^^ 
were incorporated imder the name of "Rhode Sxatue of Roger 
Island and Providence Plantations." Williams at Prov- 

Massachusetts had secured her desired 
uniformity and public order, and thereby increased immigra- 
tion, even if she did not grant what she demanded for herself 
— the right of free worship. 

CONNECTICUT; NEW HAMPSHIRE; MAINE 
In the meantime, however, dissatisfaction had grown in 136. The 
Massachusetts concerning her narrow political policy; and i>^ td^Orders' 
1635 a party of emigrants went overland to the Connecticut val — 1639 
ley and founded the towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wether- 
field. Four years later these settlements sent representatives 
to a general court, and drew up a constitution known as "The 
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut." This document is im- 
portant in many respects. It was "the first written constitu- 
tion known to history that created a government," says Fiske. 
It did not seek authority from the king, from parliament, or 
even from Massachusetts, though she did give her consent. 
It provided for the simple administration of local government 



I04 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

in each settlement and for efficient means in transacting the 
business common to all. The general government thus created 
was modeled, naturally enough, after that of Massachusetts, 
but it carefully avoided making religion a test of citizenship. 
The great, far-seeing leader in this constructive piece of state- 
craft was Reverend Thomas Hooker, who announced that 
"the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of 
the people" ■ — a doctrine wonderfully prophetic of the familiar 
political utterances of twentieth century statesmen. Connecti- 
cut gave encouragement to education, cultivated a strict code 
of morals, maintained a policy of toleration in religion, and 
flourished under, her republican institutions. In 1665 she 
was united with New Haven, which had been established in 
1638-9 by Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport — two Puri- 
tan ministers from England, whose desire had been to found a 
state upon scriptural models. Henceforth the united colony 
took a place of importance in New England second perhaps to 
Massachusetts only. 

137. Setae- Contemporaneously with the establishment of Rhode Island 
ments in ^^^ Connecticut, settlers were going north from Massachusetts 
Hampshire into the region afterward known as New Hampshire and Maine. 
and Maine £xeter and other villages formed a little confederation about 

1638, but soon acknowledged the jurisdiction of Massachusetts 
and remained a part of that colony, with brief intervals, until 
1691. Maine was first settled by emigrants from Plymouth in 
1631, but its precarious separate existence terminated in 1652, 
when it was annexed to Massachusetts. 

THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 

138. Mo- Plymouth and Massachusetts were, in a large sense, the 
eaxly imion "pother colonies, to whom the others looked for counsel, and 

from whom they received encouragement in their efiForts at 
development. In religion and politics all were essentially dem- 
ocratic, while in industry and commerce each fed the others. 
They were one in blood and speech; they suffered the same 
hardships and confronted the same dangers. The French 



THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 105 

pressed them on the north, and the Dutch were obstructing their 
expansion on the west. The Indians, usually friendly, were, 
nevertheless, to be watched; in 1637 the war with the Pequots 
had resulted in the death of hundreds of the colonists, while 
the Indians had harassed the region from one end to the other. 

Under the pressure of these influences Connecticut suggested 139. The 
to Massachusetts, in 1637, the formation of a confederation ^^°° °[ 
of all the New England colonies. Massachusetts withheld her Articles 
approval. In 1639, and again in 1642, Connecticut repeated her 
suggestion. By this time news had reached Massachusetts 
that King Charles I was again in serious trouble with parlia- 
ment and with the Puritans. The danger that might come to 
New England from a royal victory in the motherland was the 
final factor in leading Massachusetts to accept Connecticut's 
suggestion. In 1643 Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and New Haven formed the New England Confederation "for 
mutual help and strength." Maine and Rhode Island were 
left out of the "consociation" because of "a different course 
both in their ministry and in their civil administration." 

The Articles of Confederation, from which extracts are given, 
show the character of the framers, and the spirit of the times, 
as well as the trend of governmental development: 

Art. 2. The said colonies for themselves and their posterities, do 
jointly and severally hereby enter into a firm and perpetual league of friend- 
ship and amity for offence and defence, mutual advice, and succor upon all 
just occasions both for preserving and propagating the truth and liberties 
of the Gospel, and for their own mutual safety and welfare. 

Art. 3. It is further agreed that the Plantations . . . shall each of them 
have like peculiar jurisdiction and government within their limits; . . . 

Art. 4. It is by these Confederates agreed that the charge of all just 
wars, whether offensive or defensive, upon what part or member of this 
Confederation soever they fall, shall both in men, provisions, and all other 
disbursements, be borne by all the parts of this Confederation in different 
proportions according to their different ability. . . . 

Art. 6. It is also agreed, that for the managing and concluding of all 
affairs proper, and concerning the whole Confederation, two Commissioners 
shall be chosen by and out of each of these four jurisdictions . . . being all 
in Church-fellowship with us, which shall bring full power from their several 



io6 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

General Courts respectively to hear, examine, weigh and determine all 
afifairs of our war, of peace, leagues, aids, charges, and numbers of men for 
war . . . not intermeddling with the government of any of the Jurisdic- 
tions, which by the third article is [)rcscrved entirely to themselves. But if 
these eight commissioners when they meet shall not all agree yet it [is] 
concluded that any six of the eight agreeing shall have power to settle and 
determine the business in question. . . . 

Art. 8. It is also agreed if any servant run away from his master into 
any other of these confederated Jurisdictions, that in such case, upon the 
certificate of one magistrate in the Jurisdiction out of which the said servant 
fled, or upon other due proof; the said servant shall be delivered, either to 
his master, or any other that pursue and brings such certificate of proofs. . . . 

Art. II. It is further agreed that if any of the Confederates shall here- 
after break any of these present articles, or be any other ways injurious to 
any of the other Jurisdictions; such breach of agreement or injury shall be 
duly considered and ordered by the Commissioners for the other Jurisdic- 
tions, that both peace and this Confederation may be entirely preserved 
without violation. 



140. Com- Very noticeable is the laxness of the federal bond, as well as 

Articles- ^he reserved power of local government. The representative 

value of the idea is there and the equality is there — two commissioners 

ation from each colony. There is the provision for the return of 

fugitive slaves, without which provision the Articles could 

never have been agreed uj^on, for all the colonies had slaves at 

this time. There is the semblance of a confederate court, whose 

duty it was to settle disputes between the members. In the 

matter of representation there is disregard of the comparative 

strength of Massachusetts, which led her in 1653 to refuse to 

abide by the decision of the other confederates. There is the 

absence of any acknowledgment of royal or parliamentary 

supremacy. 

The Confederation served as a rallying point and as a bul- 
wark of strength to the New England colonies in their later 
struggles with the Indians. In 1652, by order of the general 
court, a colonial mint was established, which continued for 
thirty years to coin the pine-tree shilling. Indeed, the Con- 
federation for nearly twenty years pursued a practically inde- 
pendent course. 



THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION 107 

But when Charles II came to the throne, there was a change 141. The 

of policy toward the American colonies. Reports of the treat- ^°?^. *^°™" 
'^ "^ '^ missioners 

ment of the Quakers and of " a design to throw off their depend- — 1664 
ence on England"; the reluctance of the New Englanders to 
proclaim the restoration ; protection offered by New Haven and 
Hadley to the regicide judges; and a general indifference to 
English authority, led the king in 1664 to send over a royal 
commission "to dispose the people to an entire submission and 
obedience to the king's government." The four commissioners 
arrived in the summer and proceeded, with the help of Con- 
necticut, to conquer New Amsterdam. Then they demanded 
that Massachusetts should comply with the king's require- 
ments that "free-holders of competent estate" be given the 
right to vote and to hold office irrespective of creed and belief; 
that the Church of England be given the right to worship; and 
that the laws be administered in the king's name. But, unable 
to bring Massachusetts to terms, the commissioners returned 
home and found Charles too busy with the Dutch, who were 
now in a commercial war with England, to punish his obstinate 
subjects beyond the Atlantic. 

Meanwhile Connecticut, whose diplomatic governor. Win- 142. Royal 
throp, had secured the favor of the king, was granted a liberal Connecticut 
charter and received further benefit in the annexation of New and Rhode 
Haven. Rhode Island, Ukewise, had been requited for the 
orphanage she had suffered at the hands of the Confederation, 
and rewarded for her treatment of the royal commissioners; 
the king's favor had granted her a charter similar to that of 
Connecticut. Under these charters the citizens enjoyed large 
liberty and the colonies were independent — subject only to 
the king as the court of last resort. 

These events greatly weakened the Confederation, the fed- 143. King 
eral court meeting only once every three years thereafter. Its 
coherency was further diminished by a series of Indian massacres 
from 1674-78, commonly known as King Philip's war. Whole 
villages were destroyed, hundreds of the whites were killed 
and many others were made prisoners. Much property was 



io8 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



144. Massa- 
chusetts 
suffers 
under the 
royal 
displeasure 



145. A 

tyrannical 
governor ; 
end of the 
Confeder- 
ation 



destroyed and a heavy indebtedness of the Confederation in- 
curred. The colonies had preferred to fight their own battles 
unaided by English troops, lest a precedent should be set for 
the maintenance of a royal army in New England. 

The independent attitude of the colonists, their persistent 
violation of the navigation laws, and the evident desire of 
Massachusetts to extend her territory through the absorption 
of adjacent colonies, a disposition which was shown in her con- 
duct toward New Hamj)shire in 1642, and later toward the 
settlements in Maine, led the king to take cognizance of the 
policies of the refractory colonists, and to renew his attacks 
upon Massachusetts. 

In 1675 the management of colonial affairs was placed in 
the hands of "the Lords of the Committee of Trade and Plan- 
tations," a sub-committee of the English Privy Council. In the 
ne.xt year Edward Randolph was sent to Boston by the king as 
the bearer of a royal protest against the violation of the navi- 
gation laws ; and he was commanded to uncover sufhcient irreg- 
ularities in Massachusetts to justify a suit for the benefit of 
her charter. His conduct was such that the people in Boston 
and throughout New England were greatly embittered toward 
the king, and the king, in turn, through Randolph, found 
plenty of the desired evidence of illegal conduct. In 1679 New 
Hampshire was made a royal province, and the king asked that 
Maine be given over to the crown. To none of his demands 
did Massachusetts give even diplomatic attention, and in 1684 
her charter was annulled by a royal decree. 

Sir Edmund Andros was sent over as governor of Massachu- 
setts, Plymouth, New Hampshire, and Maine, with instructions 
to proceed without regard to local institutions. Such absolute 
power was consonant with the despotic temper of the man, 
who now (1686) demanded also the charters of Connecticut and 
Rhode Island. The latter yielded without protest and when 
Connecticut refused to surrender hers, Andros annexed her 
without it. And now began the distinctively individual rule 
of the governor. Combining within himself the three jwwers 



GENERAL CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES 109 



of government, he was maker, interpreter, and enforcer of the 
law. Congregational churches were used for Episcopal services; 
the colonial representative assemblies were ignored; the press 
was strictly censored; private property was seized, and the 
writ of habeas corpus suspended. In 1688 his jurisdiction was 
extended over the Jerseys and New York, and Andros was 
now despot from Maine to Maryland. Happily for the last 
named colony the "Glorious Rev- 
olution" in England interrupted 
the forfeiture of her charter, as it 
also put an end to the tyrant's 
rule over the whole region. The 
Revolution was no less "glorious" 
in the colonies than in England. 
William and Mary were duly pro- 
claimed and the old charters 
restored, but Massachusetts re- 
ceived a new one from the king 
in 1692. While not so liberal as 
she no doubt wished, it restored 
many of her earlier rights and 
permitted the reestablishment of 
most of the local institutions on 
their former free foundation. 

The New England Confederation was now completely broken 
up, but not until the attempt to consolidate most of the colo- 
nial governments under the direct control of the crown had 
been frustrated. 




Sir Edmund Andros 

After the portrait in the State 

Library at Hartford, Conn. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES 



T^i T r* • • motives in 
The Virgmia^^i^^^j^g 



In all but two cases, the motive of the Europeans for plant- 146. The 
ing colonies in America was purely mercenary 
company, out of whose efforts grew Plymouth and Jamestown, 
and from the former. New England, had in view the making of 
money out of the gold that the Indians were supposed to possess, 
or through the fur trade with the natives. A third commer- 



no 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



147. A 

game of 
kings and 
pawns 



148. Eco- 
nomic 
conditions 



cial puqDose was to find that short route to the East where so 
much rich treasure lay and for which every explorer sought. 
The story is a different one with William Penn and James 
Oglethorpe, whose motives were philanthropic rather than com- 
mercial. But when Pennsylvania and Georgia were settled the 
world had grown older and wiser through the experiences of 
more than one generation of men. 

The Virginia company was conceived, organized, and man- 
aged by shrewd financiers. Through losses and gains these 
men demonstrated that there was "big game" in the American 
woods. Princes and lords were not slow to learn the best 
preserves, and then "charters and governorships" became the 
stake in royal games of chance. In other words, as soon as it 
was seen that there was money to be gained, dukes, earls, and 
lords of all sizes were put on the governing boards, and kings 
paid their debts with grants of vast territories that had no 
value until redeemed from the wilderness by blood and toil. In 
almost every case, the common people — those who were to put 
their labor and their lives into the mill — were granted just as 
great liberty as was necessary to attract other settlers, and the 
said liberty was very skilfully diminished as the revenues were 
increased. And in the American wilderness the people neces- 
sarily grew in independence, as they repeatedly experienced the 
fact that their neighbor and not the king was a present help 
in time of need. Almost uniformly, the colonies soon became 
royal colonies. Not only through political importance, but 
also because of their constantly increasing profits derived, the 
king found them too great to be longer entrusted to even dukes 
and earls; he needed the royal revenues, and he was jealous of 
political power. 

Just as every great event in English or international politics 
was registered in the American colonies, so did the totality of 
social and economic life in the mother country cause correspond- 
ing effect in the settlements. Where cupidity impels, the weak 
must suffer; the penniless and the unfortunate on the streets 
of London were picked up for material as colonists. The hired 



GENERAL CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES iii 



W/yM'7^' 'LiS:^nac xx; 7 w. 



hi 



so 100 :200 300 
1 
87 



\ ' , O V'.luuibus, 




EUROPEAN COLONIES--ABOUT 1650. 



112 THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

man, and the tenant, thrown out of aj^ricultural employment 
because of the contraction of farms to enlarge sheep ranches, 
and the soldier returned from foreign wars, hardly recruited in 
health and body for another adventure, were attracted by the 
colonizing schemes. To the poor man just released from prison, 
without friends or money, it was his chance to begin life anew. 
■With such an aggregation of unfortunates, "the starving time" 
was a necessity. They had brought it with them. But a 
better class soon followed, and the quality of the immigrants 
improved until some of the best men of all lands, with their 
families, found their way to the New World and gave them- 
selves to the making of a great people. 

149. Aland As political conditions at home drove both Roundheads and 
f "^VnT"^ Cavaliers to America, and as economic conditions drove the 

unfortunate to die quickly in the wilderness, so religious condi- 
tions drove men of strong mould and earnest conviction to make 
their homes in the land which they themselves might govern, 
and so religious sects of all lands sought "freedom" in the New 
World; and, in truth, in many cases unfortunately, the words 
"religious freedom" were interpreted to mean religious domi- 
nation. Intolerance and bigotry were often covered beneath 
the seductive words "religious liberty." But common dangers, 
a common enemy on many a bloody field, and common suffer- 
ing, resulted in bringing men to recognize the common rights of 
Man. 

150. Forms Let it not be forgotten that New England conditions of small 
o govern- j^Qi(}j,-,g5^ among a homogeneous people, produced the town 

meeting, the nucleus of political life; while in the South town 
meetings were impossible. There, only the county meeting 
was large enough to justify the man whose farm contained 
thousands of acres, cultivated by "indentured" serv'ants, hired 
men, and negro slaves, in getting into his sloop or barge and 
rowing to the court house landing. 

The Middle colonies, having the benefit of Virginia's experi- 
ence and that of Massachusetts on the north, combined the 
forms of New England and of the South in their own. 



GENERAL CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES 113 

The Middle colonies were blessed with fine harbors, navigable 151. Natural 
rivers, productive soil and an agreeable climate ; their advance- ■■®s°"''c®s 
ment was assured, and their population increased rapidly. 

Navigable rivers, the fur trade, the grain exports from the 
Mohawk valley down the Hudson, and a delightful climate 
set the Middle colonies on the way to permanent prosperity. 

By the close of the seventeenth century, the powerful Dutch 152. The 
colony and the promising Swedish settlements had lost their do^^ant^^ 
foothold forever, and the Englishman occupied the coast from 
Maine to Florida. It was not then an assured fact that the 
Englishman would evolve into the American and that Anglo- 
Saxon civilization in its development of English institutions 
should dominate the North American continent, and yet, the 
combined activities of the time could have no other result, 
God willing. 

In a few years "New France" is numbered among the un- 
realized dreams of the Gallic statesman, and the Anglo-Saxon 
takes up his resistless march to the Golden Gate. 

SUMMARY 

After repeated failures to colonize New England, a small band of Pil- 
grims, seeking religious freedom, settled at Plymouth. This little colony 
maintained a separate existence for nearly a century and set the world such 
an example of Christian courage and purity of life as has been rarely equaled 
in the history of the world. 

Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1629 by stanch Puritans. 
It grew rapidly from the beginning and soon became the leading colony in 
New England. It early developed a large measure of independence and 
gave the mother country more trouble than all the other New England 
colonics combined. In their attempt to secure uniformity of worship the 
colonists of INIassachusetts Bay drove out Roger Williams and Mrs. Anne 
Hutchinson, who became the founders of the small but important colony 
of Rhode Island. The rapid development of the mother colony also led to 
the establishment of Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. 

In 1643, perhaps the first step toward an American Union was taken in 
the formation of the New England Confederation. This organization 
protected the colonists from the Indians, taught them the lesson of coopera- 
tion, and made trouble for England until the close of the seventeenth 
century. 



114 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 



In all the New England colonics there was a general dififusion of democratic 
principles and a vigorous development of the towns as units of political 
organization. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What two distinct influences working together brought about the settlement 
of Plymouth? 2. Which is more important to know, the number and names of the 
Pilgrims, or their character, thoughts, feelings, motives, etc.? Discuss. 3. What 
sort of influence did tlie Plymouth colony exert over her neighbors? 4. Account 
for the rapid growth of Massachusetts Bay from the first. 5. Were the colonists 
of Massachusetts Bay democrats in religion? 6. Relate two incidents that clearly 
show the spirit of freedom in the colony. 7. Why did not England suppress 
the development of free government in the colonies? 8. What form of local 
government developed in New England? Why? 9. What did Connecticut do 
when the mother country asked for her charter? 10. Do you see in the colonial 
history of New England any signs of greater trouble to come with England? 




In the Stocks 



CHAPTER VIII 
NEW FRANCE 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Thwaites, France in America; Hart, Formation 
of the Union; Fisher, Colonial Era; Wilson, American People; Sloane, French 
War and Revolution; Fiske, New France and New England. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries; MacDonald, Select Charters; 
American History Leaflets, No. 14. 

Illustrative Material. — Longfellow, Evangeline; Cooper, Last of the Mohi- 
cans; Stevenson, Soldier of Virginia; Cooper, Pathfinder; Cooke, Stories of the old 
Dominion. 

THE TRADERS AND TRApPERS 

On the American continent, at the beginning of the eight- 153. Car- 
eenth century, the undisputed possessions of the French were ^'^^ 
immensely greater than those of the EngHsh. They owned 
the Great Lakes and around them, for thousands of miles in 
every direction, a region valuable for all natural products and 
rich beyond computation in potential development. How they 
had acquired the heart of the continent and how they lost it, 
when all is told, is a story that runs through almost three cen- 
turies. As early as 1534 Jacques Cartier saw the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. In the next year he ascended the river as far as the 
first rapids, which he named for China, the object of every 
great navigator's hopes. Here he spent the winter, encamping 
on the "mountain island" which he named Mont Real. 

Almost from the first the fisheries of Newfoundland attracted 
enterprise. The church, in its prescription of a fish diet one 
day in the week for all its adherents, furthered the prosperity 
of the fishermen. The trade in furs with the Indians became 
very lucrative, Canada being a region unequaled both in the 
numbers of fur-bearing animals and in the quality of their 



ii6 NEW FRANCE 

pelts. Samuel de Champlain's first visit to the country was in 
company with fur traders in 1603. Not until seventy years 
after Cartier's discovery was there an agricultural settle- 
ment made, De Monts planting his colony in Acadia (Nova 
Scotia) in 1605. Three years later Champlain founded Quebec, 
when Jamestown was in the second year of its existence. 
154. Cham- Samuel de Champlain, the leader of the colony at Quebec, 
o^'^lj^V properly called "the Father of New France," began at once 
Acadia to establish, according to French ideas, a paternalistic govern- 
ment, easy enough as an end within itself, but at the same time 
rendering the rapid development of a strong colony impossible, 
as later events amply proved. Unmarried men came to make 
their fortunes by finding gold or collecting pelts and returning 
to Europe, but families were very slow in coming. The dis- 
tance was great, the region almost inaccessible, and the climate 
rigorous. 

Champlain's high purposes were to convert the Indians to the 
Catholic religion, to extend his master's dominions, and to add 
greatness and glory to the French crown. The new colony was 
surrounded by the Algonkins, who controlled the valley of the 
St. Lawrence and the region to the west and northwest about the 
Great Lakes and beyond. Champlain cultivated the friendship 
of the Algonkins and made treaties with them. He believed 
that he would thus open the way to a rich trade in fur, which 
was now filling the Frenchman's horizon with prospects of great 
wealth, as gold had filled the imagination of English, Span- 
iards, and French at the far South. Such was the interest in 
this new business that, previous to this time, the king had 
granted monopolies to Chauvin to trade "in the new land of 
the far west" and to De Monts between 40° and 60° north 
along the coast, "for a part of the pelf." 

Meanwhile, the settlers under De Monts, at Port Royal, in 
Acadia, differed in very many respects from those on the 
St. Lawrence. The history of the little colony is peculiar and 
pathetic. Occupying territory claimed by another country, the 
settlers were compelled to depend upon themselves against 



MISSIONARIES AND EXPLORERS 



117 



the Indians and the English. Driven to think and act for 
themselves, they developed an independence and a power for 
self-government unusual in paternalistic New France. They 
established homes, built dykes, and cultivated the land, under 
the leadership of the priests, who gained supremacy in civil as 
well as in ecclesiastic affairs. 

By 1670, two generations 
after Champlain had begun his 
arduous labors at Quebec, the 
French were setting their traps 
around trading-posts and hunt- 
ing-camps hundreds of miles to 
the west and north. They had 
found the rich supply of beaver, 
otter, mink, and muskrat pelts 
on Hudson bay. But the Eng- / , 
lish king, claiming the Ameri- \ 
can continent, had granted that 
part of the Indian's land to the 
Hudson Bay company, whose 
purj^ose was to engage in the fur trade. The charter, with 
provisions peculiar to charters of the time, gave to that com- 
pany "all the land drained by rivers emptying directly or indi- 
rectly into Hudson Bay." One dollar invested in the fur trade 
was returning thirty to the proprietors in England. Of course 
Englishmen and Frenchmen thought the prize worth a contest, 
and there began the trouble which brought varying disasters 
by turns to one country and the other, and at length resulted 
in the overthrow of French rule in North America. 




155. Begin- 
ning of the 
trouble with 
the EngUsh 



Samuel De Champlain 



MISSIONARIES AND EXPLORERS 

The English soon held the region around Hudson bay, 156. Mar- 
aud the French sought new fields for their enterprise. Even ^"^"f."'^. 

° ^ the Missis- 

as early as 1661 they had posts and settlements west of Lakesippi 

Superior. The hunters and traders were accompanied and 
greatly aided by the Jesuit priests, who found no path so long, 



ii8 



NEW FRANCE 



no river so deep and cold, and no privation so great as to weaken 
their unconquerable purpose to assist in holding the country 
for their king and to convert the Indians to their religion. Up 
to this time, the Iroquois and the Huron Indians, implacable 
foes of Champlain's people ever since his wide-mouthed guns 
first frightened them on the lake that 
bears his name, had kept the French out 
of the Ohio valley and away from the 
southern shores of Lake Erie and Lake 
Ontario, but now that the English had 
encroached on the north, the Frenchmen 
determined to explore the rivers flowing 
southward. Three years after the Eng- 
lish had established themselves about 
Hudson bay (1673), Father Marquette 
in company with Joliet, a fur trader, 
following the route taken by Jean Nicolet 
whom Champlain in 1604 had sent to 
the Great Lakes by way of the Fox 
River and the Wisconsin portage, passed 
down the Mississippi as far as the mouth 
of the Arkansas, where tradition says 
De Soto had died one himdred and 
thirty-one years before. They became 
convinced that these rivers emptied into 
the Gulf of Mexico and not into the 
South sea, and began their arduous 
return to Quebec. 

Through Marquette and Joliet France 
had now a strong claim to the JVIississippi 
valley, but she was soon to have a still 
better one through the explorations of Robert Cavelier, Sieur de 
la Salle. Like other ambitious explorers of his time he was hunt- 
ing for a passage to China, and thought he had found it when 
he first saw the Ohio River. This boldest, ablest, most versa- 
tile of the hardy spirits of New France had come to America 




James MARgrExxE 
" Who with Louis Joliet 
discovered the Missis- 
sippi River at Prairie du 
Chien, July 17, 1673." 
From the statue by G. 

157. Explo- Trentenove, in the Ro- 

rations of tunda of the Capitol, 

La Salle; Washington 

French 

policy 



MISSIONARIES AND EXPLORERS 



119 



in 1667. Engaged in the fur trade, he was led to make explo- 
rations requiring the greatest courage and endurance. He ex- 
plored the Ohio as far as the falls at Louisville. He went far 
westward also; and, hearing of the success of Marquette and 
Joliet, he determined to find the mouth of the great river. He 
was convinced that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of 
Mexico and not into the Vermilion sea. In 1682, after years 
of arduous toil and disappoint- 
ments that would have deterred 
men of baser metal, his great desire 
to plant the standard of his king 
and the cross of his church at 
the mouth of the "Father of 
Waters" was gratified. Return- 
ing to France, he received a royal 
commission to colonize and gov- 
ern the country, and in 1684, at 
the head of an expedition largely 
military, he sailed for America in 
order to carry out the royal pur- 
pose; he would land at the mouth 
of the river, explore the gulf, 
conquer the Spaniards and attach Mexico to France. After 
landing at Matagorda bay, on the coast of Texas, he built a 
fort and began seeking for a formidable Indian tribe to help 
him against the Spaniards. But there was no such tribe to be 
found, and this part of his enterprise was abandoned in time 
to save a few of his followers, but not to save himself. He 
was murdered by one of his own men in March, 1678. 

La Salle's plan for holding the vast country had been to 
make a chain, each of the links a fort, to reach from the Gulf to 
the St. Lawrence river, either end of the chain in communica- 
tion by sea with the French government. If he had lived, 
however. La Salle would have found his conception, princely 
though it was, visionary and impossible. The French policy 
was too narrow to stimulate vigorous colonial growth. Fur 




Robert Cavelier, Sieur de 
LA Salle 



I20 NEW FRANCE 

traders, missionaries, and soldiers without families did not 
increase the population very rapidly. The soldiers were coura- 
geous and the missionaries were faithful, but England's power 
was great, and she was saying that the French were intruders 
because John and Sebastian Cabot, sailing English vessels, had 
discovered the continent in 1497, and therefore the whole con- 
tinent belonged to England. A contest was approaching and 
France was at a disadvantage, because of her poor access to the 
sea and her sparse population, in comparison with the power 
of the English. But she became active in her preparations 
to hold the country. 

158. French Toward the close of the century the brothers, Jean Baptiste 

settlements ;Lg Moyne of Bienville and Pierre Le Moyne of Iberville, 
the Iroquois -' ■' ' 

descended the Mississippi river and made a temporary settle- 
ment near its mouth. In 1699 Iberville planted a small colony 
at Biloxi, and in 1702 another at Mobile. New Orleans, settled 
by Bienville, was founded in 17 18; but there was no settle- 
ment at St. Louis until 1764. Meantime, New France was 
increasing her power in a military sense by bringing over colo- 
nies, building forts, and strengthening herself in alliance with 
the Hurons as well as the Algonkins. In choosing the Algon- 
kin alliance, the French had made the Five Tribes, or the 
Iroquois, their implacable foes. The position of the Iroquois 
made it impossible for the French ever to gain the Mohawk 
and Hudson river valleys; and it was long before they could, 
in safety, occupy the region south of the lakes; so Marquette, 
Joliet, La Salle, and other explorers, in discovering new regions 
toward the west and southwest, served to relieve, at least for a 
time, the pressure of the French upon territory claimed by the 
English. Had France been able to control the Iroquois Indians, 
the history of the New World might have been difTerent. 

159. French France saw that she must make good her claims in the face 
En^Hsh ^^ English aggressions, and she extended her line of forts up 
settlers the Ohio toward the St. Lawrence. They now reached from 

New Orleans to Montreal, along the Mississippi and the Great 
Lakes. During the years of French activity beyond the 



MISSIONARIES AND EXPLORERS 



121 




Map to illustrate French Explorations 



Alleghanies, the attention of the English had been given to 
developing their interests between the mountains and the 
sea. Only a few adventurous spirits had passed the western 
barrier.^ 

^ "Several years before Marquette and Joliet had sailed down the Mississippi, 
Colonel Abraham Wood (1654-1664) had explored the streams emptying into the 
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Later English explorers were Lederer (1O6Q-1670), 
Botts (1671), Howard and Sailing (1742), and Walker (1748-1750)." — Thwaites, 
French in America, p. 40. 



122 



NEW FRANCE 



A few frontiersmen had also crossed over to Kentucky and a 
permanent settlement had been begun at Dupers Meadows. 
But when the French began to strengthen their fort at Presque 
Isle with the evident intention of connecting Lake Erie, in a 
military sense, with the Ohio, men active in the political life of 
the English colonies observed these preparations and urged the 
king of England to check any French advance. 



160. The 
European 
wars; King 
William's 
War 



COLONIAL WARS 

"The French and Indian Wars" is a title adopted for con- 
venience to designate the American effect of the quarrels and 
wars of European states which gave the observant and perhaps 
envious French and English colonists in America an occasion 
to "set each other by the ears," to gratify an inherited tradi- 
tional hatred, and to punish a rival for trespassing on territory 
that had been taken from the Indians in total disregard of their 
wishes, interests, or rights. Each war takes its name from the 
monarch of England who was on the throne when the war was 
waged. The first three wars did not grow out of conditions in 
America; in fact, they had no reference to American conditions 
and did not affect them; but the last war, known in Europe as 
the Seven Years' war and in America as the French and Indian 
War, was an American war, and affected the states of Europe. 
The last war has so many distinguishing characteristics that it 
should not be classed with the others. 

The royal brothers, Charles II and James II, were cousins 
of Louis XIV of France and had borrowed from him large sums 
of money with which to fight the parliament of England. They 
could not well afi"ord to oppose, seriously, any of his interests 
or movements. But when William of Orange came to the Eng- 
lish throne (1689) to succeed James II, he opposed the French 
king on old scores, and he was quite unfriendly toward his ambi- 
tion to gain commercial supremacy and to deal a blow at Prot- 
estantism by combining the great Catholic nations in placing 
his grandson on the Spanish throne. War broke out in Europe 
and in the colonies, each group taking the side of its own mother 



COLONIAL WARS 123 

country. The French with their Indian allies fell on the exposed 
towns and villages of the English. They scalped and murdered 
the people and pillaged and burned Schenectady in New York, 
Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, and Exeter, New Hampshire. 
These horrible outrages were planned, in the main, by the subtle 
and able Count Frontenac, who came over as governor of 
Canada about the time this war broke out. During this war, 
at the suggestion of Massachusetts, the first colonial congress 
was attempted. It met at Albany in 1690 to plan concerted 
action against the French. Three plans were formulated, but 
only one, the capture of Acadia, was successful. This congress 
opened the way for very effective ones later. The British cap- 
tured Port Royal in Acadia, but when the treaty of Ryswick 
closed the war in Europe (1697), it was given back to France. 

The second of these "Intercolonial Wars" was known in 161. Queen 
America as Queen Anne's War and in Europe as the "War^^^®'^^" 
of the Spanish Succession, England, Holland, and Germany 
being allies on the one side and France and Spain on the other. 
The fact that Spain and France were friends gave ground for 
the English colonists in South Carolina to attack the Spaniards 
in St. Augustine, Florida, when Governor Moore (1702) cap- 
tured that town. When the Spanish fleet arrived the governor 
burned the towTi and hastened back to Charleston. In 1706 
the English were attacked by the Spaniards and they in turn 
drove the Spaniards away. 

Again the New Englanders captured Port Royal. The 
greatest horror of these wars in America was in the awful Indian 
raids and massacres, led by the French. In this one, Deerfield, 
Massachusetts, suffered a terrible massacre. More than a 
hundred inhabitants were carried into Indian captivity. There • 
were Indian troubles in the South, but fortunately no massacres. 
Under the leadership of Queen Anne's great general, the Duke 
of Marlborough, England was able to dictate terms of peace. ^ 

' In this treaty England demanrled and obtained the right to sell not less than 
4800 slaves from Africa to the Spanish- American colonies. The South Sea company, 
in which the queen was a stockholder, was given the right to engage in the slave 
trade. 



124 ■ NEW FRANCE 

By the treaty of Utrecht (17 13), which closed this war, France 
surrendered the Hudson bay region, Newfoundland, and 
Acadia, and acknowledged England's suzerainty over the terri- 
tory of the Iroquois Indians. The English changed the name 
of Acadia to Nova Scotia, and Port Royal to Annapolis. 
162 King The third of these European wars was King George's War 
George s (1744-4S), which began thirty-one years after the close of Queen 
Anne's War (17 13). This conflict is known in Europe as the 
War of the Austrian Succession. During the period of peace 
which followed the treaty of Utrecht the French had con- 
structed on Cape Breton island an exceedingly strong fortifica- 
tion which was called Louisburg. It was a common saying that 
even women could hold it against any attack. The most im- 
portant American event of the war was the capture of this 
fortress by New England troops. Curiously enough, it is said 
that a lawyer drew the plan of attack and that a merchant, 
Pepperell, commanded the troops composed of mechanics, far- 
mers, and fishermen, and this combination, aided by a small 
fleet under Admiral Warren, succeeded in an assault that 
trained soldiers would not have undertaken. To the chagrin 
and indignation of the Americans who had captured it and 
needed it, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which closed this war, 
gave Louisburg back to France (1748). It was in this war that 
Oglethorpe (1742) attacked the Spanish colonies and later drove 
them away from Frederica. At the end of these three Euro- 
pean American wars the English possessions were the same as in 
the beginning, except that the English had gained Nova Scotia 
and Newfoundland, with disputed boundaries. 

THE BORDER STRUGGLE 

163. The In 1749, the year following the close of King George's War, 
western ^j^g j^jj^g granted a charter to the "Ohio company" in which 
were some Virginia gentlemen, two brothers of George Wash- 
ington among them. A half million acres of land west of the 
Alleghanies was granted upon the condition that one hundred 
families be settled on it in seven years. The company built a 



THE BORDER STRUGGLE 



125 



temporary fort at Mill Creek (Cumberland, Maryland), near 
the head of the Potomac, and cut a road through the wilderness 
for sixty miles to the Monongahela, where, in 1752, another 
trading-post was begun. The road, afterward known as Wash- 
ington's road, Braddock's road, and 
as the Cumberland trail, became a 
way by which the French and 
Indians advanced to attack the 
English settlements when hostili- 
ties began. 

The French, already preparing to 
defend the territory which they 
claimed, built Fort Le Boeuf on 
a tributary of the Alleghany river, 
which would command the portage 
between the river and Lake Erie. 
They endeavored to confirm their 
alliance with the Indians, some 
of whom had shown disaffection. 
They moved their outposts to 
Venango, an Indian village, driving 
out some English traders, and 
taking others prisoners, whom they 
sent to Canada. 

Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia chose Major George Wash- 164. Wash- 
ington, who was then but twenty- two years old, to make thej^g^jj*". 
arduous journey through the wilderness and to bear to the Fort 
French commander beyond the Ohio the remonstrances of his ^'^®^^' ^ 
colony. Washington set out with six companions, at length 
reached Fort Le Boeuf, and delivered his despatch to the French 
commander. He then returned to Virginia, bearing a sealed 
reply to Governor Dinwiddle. It had been a long, painful, and 
perilous journey. The message of the French commander, as 
Washington might well understand, was not at all encouraging, 
and news of French encroachments upon Virginia's territory 
continued to come. In January, 1754, Colonel Trent, with 




George Washington as a 

Young Man 

From the portrait painted by 
C. W. Peale 



126 



NEW FRANCE 



165. The 

Albany 
Congress 
— 1754 



166. Rela- 
tive 

strength 
of the 
disputants 



a small force of Virginia volunteers, was ordered to build a 
fort at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. 
He did so, but in April he was compelled to retire upon the 
advance of a large body of French troops, who completed the 
fort and named it Fort Duquesne. 

Before learning of this act of war, Governor Dinwiddie 
had ordered Washington to march, with two hundred men, to 
reenforce Trent. Washington skirmished with a small body of 
the French on May 28, and they left the field, but another and 
larger force advancing upon him, he fell back to Great Meadows, 
where he built a small fort of logs which he called Fort Neces- 
sity. There he resisted a combined attack of French and 
Indians, and on July 4 capitulated on terms and marched out 
with all the honors of war. Now the French held by force of 
arms all the country that Great Britain had claimed beyond 
the mountains, and war was believed by all the colonies to be 
imminent. 

Indeed, the approach of war had long been apparent to the 
English colonists, and an effort to bring about concert of action 
had been begun again. A conference was called to meet at 
Albany July 19, 1754, and was attended by delegates from 
seven colonies. A plan of uniting in resistance to the French 
and Indians was presented by Benjamin Franklin, which pro- 
vided for a grand council to be elected by the colonies, having 

power to levy taxes, raise troops, 
build forts, and to be supreme in 
those general affairs in which all 
the colonies were concerned. 
Although the plan failed it was 
another lesson to the colonies in 
learning how to act together. 

The territory in dispute in 
America was covered by the Eng- 
Ksh grants to Virginia "west and 
northwest from sea to sea, "while the French claimed all lands 
drained by the Ohio and the Mississippi and their tributaries. 




Device printed in Frank- 
lin's " PENNSYLV.A.NIA 

Gazette," 1754 



THE BORDER STRUGGLE 



127 



The French had about sixty forts from New Orleans to 
Montreal. They held Fort Duquesne, Crown Point, Ticon- 
deroga, Montreal, and Quebec. The English had but two of 
any importance, Oswego and Fort William Henry. The pop- 
ulation of New France at this time (1754) was about 80,000, 
while that of the English was about 1,500,000. The French 
had, at the beginning of hostilities, 6,500 regular soldiers, but 
in addition were 15,000 men, mostly hunters and fur traders, 
who were expert marksmen, 
and whose training under the 
French military pohcy 
greatly added to their effec- 
tiveness as recruits. Each 
separate English colony har- 
bored antagonism to the 
others almost as great as 
that which it felt toward the 
French, and at the beginning 
of the struggle the border 
English colonies alone could 
be induced to vote men and 
supplies. The regulars who 
were sent over at first did 
not greatly add to the 
efficiency of the army, un- 
used as they were to the 

conditions of wilderness 

warfare Route of Bra dock's Expedition 

Both France and England prepared for war. Great Britain, 167. Brad- 
in 1755, sent over two regiments under General Braddock, ^g^^^j 
appointed commander-in-chief in America, and the French — 175s 
reenforced their troops in Canada with three thousand men. 
And then came Braddock's disastrous campaign against Fort 
Duquesne, consisting of a single battle in which the British 
veterans were put to rout by savages and their French allies. 
General Braddock was brave, and with his life atoned for 




128 



NEW FRANCE 



typical British arrogance displayed in his contempt of colonial 
soldiers and his rejection of Washington's counsel. 



168. Con- 
quest of 
Acadia 
— 1755 



169. The 

campaigns 

of 1758; 

Louisburg; 

Ticon- 

deroga; 

Fort 

DuQuesne 



THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 

Almost two years after men had been killed in battle at 
Fort Necessity, parliament declared that war existed between 
Great Britain and France. Before it was ended, other Euro- 
pean nations had taken part. 

Acadia, afterward Nova Scotia, had changed rulers several 
times, but the people had remained French. Even after the 
treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which gave Nova Scotia to the 
British, the inhabitants refused to take the oath of allegiance to 
the British government. Nova Scotia, the Gateway to the St. 
Lawrence, as it is called, seemed necessary to the British on 
account of its strategic importance. In 1755 General Monck- 
ton, in command of about two thousand volunteers and a small 
force of regulars, was ordered to use severe measures to make 
Acadia entirely obedient to Great Britain. He gave the 
people a final opportunity to take the oath of allegiance, but 
about half of them still refused, and the result was that the 
property of the malcontents was destroyed or confiscated and 
they themselves were deported, while those who took the oath 
were not molested. Those who were deported were scattered 
along the Atlantic coast among the English settlements. Some 
finally reached France, and some went to Louisiana and settled 
south and west of New Orleans, where today are found the 
parish of Acadia and the little town of Evangeline, the latter 
named in honor of the poem that tells a story of Acadian lovers. 

The commander-in-chief in New France, General Montcalm, 
was an able soldier. He took Oswego and Fort William Henry 
and prepared a fleet for the invasion of New England. In 
1758 William Pitt, who had become minister of war, was ready 
to try again the issue which had ended so disastrously under 
Braddock. The British land forces in America were under com- 
mand of General Abercrombie, who planned for three separate 
operations to be undertaken. 



THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 



129 



(i) General Amherst and Admiral Boscawen took Louisburg. 
In this siege, General Wolfe, who was afterward famous, gave 
a good account of himself and returned to England a hero. 

(2) At Ticonderoga Abercrombie threw his army time after 
time against impregnable intrenchments defended by the flower 
of French infantry under 
the incomparable Mont- 
calm. In four hours the 
British loss was two thou- 
sand and the campaign 
was over and a failure. 

(3) The third move- 
ment, which had for its 
object the taking of Fort 
Duquesne, succeeded after 
bloodshed that was no less 
than criminal in men who 




Map Showing French and English Forts 



knew of Braddock's experience. These disasters had for one 
result the placing of Colonel Washington in command of the 
advance guard. But when the army pushed on and reached the 
fort, no enemy was found. The capture of Fort Frontenac by 



I30 



NEW FRANCE 



170. The 

campaigns 

of 1759; 

Fort 

Niagara; 

Ticon- 

deroga; 

Quebec 



the enterprising Colonel Bradstreet caused the French to set 
fire to Fort Duquesne and retreat hurriedly down the Ohio. 

Abercrombie was superseded by Amherst, who had forced 
the surrender of Louisburg, and a plan for another campaign 
was determined upon: (i) General Prideaux, joined by Sir 
William Johnson and the Indians, would advance against Fort 
Niagara. After taking the fort, he was to cross Lake Ontario, 
continue down the St. Lawrence, capture Montreal, and then 

unite with Amherst. (2) Amherst 
was to move against the forts on 
Lake Champlain, as Abercrombie 
had done in 175S. After taking 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
i'Ymherst was to form a junction 
with Wolfe before Quebec. (3) 
Wolfe, with an army of eight 
thousand men, with ships of war, 
was to sail up the St. Lawrence 
and take Quebec, the capital of 
New France. 

After a desperate battle the 
fort at Niagara surrendered to 
Sir William Johnson. The French 
in all this region then gathered to the defense of Montreal. 

The Ticonderoga garrison withdrew and united with the 
force which was concentrating to defend Montreal against Sir 
William Johnson. So Amherst marched into Ticonderoga with- 
out firing a shot, and then, strange to say, began to fortify 
instead of pressing the enemy or advancing to cooperate with 
Wolfe. 

In June the fleet carrying Wolfe and his army went up the 
St. Lawrence. The able and gallant Montcalm was having his 
hands full collecting forces to defend both Quebec and Mon- 
treal. He had more troops at Quebec than Wolfe had, but many 
of them were undisciplined savages. Wolfe took position on 
the Isle of Orleans below the town. He erected batteries and 




General James Wolfe 



THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 



131 



bombarded the town and fort with no success. A few days 
later he ascended the St. Lawrence, beyond the town, to find a 
way to assail Montcalm from above. He found an almost inac- 
cessible height, beyond which stretched the Plains of Abraham. 
He returned from the reconnaissance feeling discouraged. Now 
he determined to cross the Montmorenci and fall directly upon 
Montcalm, and a plan of battle was made. The attack was 
repulsed; the French behind the intrenchments slaughtered 




Quebec in the Eighteenth Century 

the Highlanders as they advanced, and as they retreated the 
Indians slaughtered the wounded. Nothing remained but to 
attempt to reach the Plains of Abraham. So oh September 6 
the troops boarded the vessels and went up the St. Lawrence 
far past Quebec, Montcalm dispatching a force to prevent a 
landing. On the night of September 13 the English embarked 
in flat-bottomed boats, floated down the river toward Quebec, 
and landed on the north shore where a small cove, now known 
as Wolfe's cove, seemed to offer possibility of an ascent; and 
the morning sun shone on Wolfe's army in line of battle on the 
Plains of Abraham. When Montcalm was informed that the 
enemy had turned his position, he said, "Yes, I see them; but 
they have made a false movement. We are going to crush 



132 



NEW FRANCE 



171. The 
Treaty of 
Paris — 
1763; the 
king's 
proclama- 
tion 




Marquis Louis de Montcalm 



them;" and he made an immortal effort, but the battle went 
against him. Quebec fell, both commanders were killed, and 
New France became only a piece of interesting history. 

Upon the monument in Que- 
bec, erected to the memories of 
Wolfe and Montcalm, twin im- 
mortals who fell in the battle, 
these words are engraved: "Valor 
gave a united death. History a 
united fame. Posterity a united 
monument." 

Treaties of peace were made 
at Paris in 1763, the nations in- 
volved being Great Britain, 
France, and Spain. 

Spain ceded to Great Britain 
East and West Florida, and 
received from Great Britain the city of Havana which a British 
fleet had taken. 

France ceded to Spain the "Island of New Orleans," on which 
"island" the city of New Orleans stands, and all her territory 
west of the Mississippi. 

Excepting two small islands in the St. Lawrence and certain 
possessions in the West Indies, France ceded to Great Britain 
all her territory in North America south of the Hudson bay 
and east of the Mississippi from the source of that stream to 
"the river Iberville, one of its outlets through Lakes Maurepas 
and Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico," the waters above 
named being east of New Orleans. 

King George II issued a proclamation in which he defined 
the limits of three provinces. East Florida, West Florida, and 
Quebec. The province of Quebec included all French settle- 
ments in the valley of the St. Lawrence, Cape Breton being 
joined to Nova Scotia. The two Floridas were separated by 
the Appalachicola river. The territory not included in the 
three divisions was- to be set apart for the Indians and addi- 




CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, 1755 
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 




CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, 1763 
AFTER THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

(ACCORDING TO PEACE OF PARIS) 



THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 133 

tional colonies; this region included the western claims of 
Virginia, Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and 
Massachusetts. 

The fall of Quebec was more than a military event. It 172. Sig- 
settled upon the English the responsibility for the future oi °^'^^°.^^ °^ 
the American continent. It determined that English political Quebec and 
institutions, gradually but inevitably evolving a form of f ree ^^^ ^''^*^® 
government rather than the paternalistic government of the 
French monarchy, should become established in the New 
World. The free local institutions which the Englishmen had 
been one hundred and iifty years in founding were now secure, 
so far at least as danger from France was concerned, and the 
Anglo-Saxon was ready to enter anew upon his mission of 
achieving the freedom of enlightened and self-governing men. 

Of the significance of this struggle in the other fields of 
human interest, Mr. Mace says that it "decided that North 
America should become a new home for English Protestantism, 
and that French Catholicism must return to European soil. 
This result lifted a great load from the minds and hearts 
of the English colonists. Yet, even if victory had belonged to 
France, the religious effect would have been just as great. . . , 
Again, this war brought into personal contact the Puritan, 
the Baptist, the Dutchman, and the Cavalier; they messed 
together, marched together, and fought together; they shared 
each other's joys and sorrows, victories and defeats. Seven 
years of this and other forms of mutual intercourse did much 
to tone down religious exclusiveness and prejudice. . . . This 
war also decided that free instead of parochial schools should 
bless America; and yet more, for it destroyed the possibility 
of French family and social life. This long struggle also bur- 
dened both England and the colonies with heavy debts. The 
former tried to lighten her load by putting new burdens on 
the trade of the latter. The colonies replied by refusing 
to have commercial intercourse with England, and began to 
develop their own resources, which led the way to commercial 
as well as to political independence." 



134 NEW FRANCE 



SUMMARY 

The French began their activities in the New World under the influence 
of that intellectual expansion which led all Europe in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries to seek new and better conditions of hving. In their search 
for the East they became impressed with the possibilities of the fur trade 
and the opportunities for spreading the Christian religion. To promote 
these opportunities and to secure for the French monarchy a controlling 
interest in the New World, they attempted to form a chain of settlements 
reaching from the mouth of the St. Lawrence, along the Great Lakes, and 
down the ]\Iississippi to its mouth. Population did not increase rapidly 
and the settlements were far apart. A conflict with the westward moving 
Englishmen was inevitable. It was precipitated by conditions in Europe, 
and gradually came to a climax through four successive wars. The result 
was the practical expulsion of the French from the North American con- 
tinent, producing political, religious, social, educational, and industrial 
effects that neither Englishmen nor Frenchmen of that day could even 
remotely foresee. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Did the Frenchmen have a valid claim to North America? 2. Make a list 
of the characteristics of the settlers of Acadia. Do the same for the settlers of 
Plymouth. Strike out those that are common. 3. Compare the motives of La Salle 
with those of William Penn. 4. What evidence may be found now that the French 
once occupied the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi valleys? 5. Was the struggle 
between the English and the French colonies inevitable? Give reasons for your 
answer. 6. Were the Indians an important factor in this war? Why? 7. What 
advantages did the English jxjssess? The French? 8. If Montcalm had won at 
Quebec, how do you think his victory would have effected history? 9. What were 
the respective European wars of which the intercolonial wars were a reflection? 

10. Did the English have any valid claim to the region west of the Alleghanies? 

11. In what ways were the intercolonial wars a preparation for the Revolution? 

12. Why did not Spain figure more prominently in these wars? 



CHAPTER IX 
COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Thwaites, Colonies; Fisher, Colonial Era; Fiske, 
Old Virginia; Ashley, American Government; Channing, Town and County Govern- 
ment. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book; Hart, Contemporaries, vol. i; American History 
Leaflets; Hill, Liberty Documents. 

Illustrative Materials. — Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish; Haw- 
thorne, Scarlet Letter; Cooper, Last of the Mohicans; Carruthers, The Cavaliers of 
Virginia; Irving, Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

THE FOUNDATION OF FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 

One hundred and fifty years after the successful settlement 173. Popu- 
of the Atlantic seaboard by the English, the character of Amer- g^*'°°j.'y 
ican local institutions had been largely determined. The pop- 
ulation of the colonies now numbered approximately 1,750,000, 
about equally divided by Mason and Dixon's line (116). Sixty- 
five per cent of the people were English, twenty-three per cent 
were negroes, and the remainder were French, Dutch, Swedes, 
Irish, Scotch, Germans, and other Europeans. A large per 
cent of the negroes were on the rice and tobacco farms in the 
South, the industries of the North not being suited to negro 
labor. On moral grounds there was little objection to slavery, 
perhaps as little in the Northern as in the Southern colonies. 
It is true that among the Quakers of Pennsylvania, a moral 
sentiment against slavery had begun to develop; on the other 
hand there were parts of North Carolina where the institution 
was in disfavor. Georgia had only recently removed her ban 
from slavery for economic reasons, just as she had done in the 
case of rum. Whatever else may be said about slavery at 
this time, it was preeminently an economic institution largely 



136 COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

refused in the North because it was unprofitable. Three fourths 
of the negro population were south of Mason and Dixon's 
line. The slave traders of New England grew rich in import- 
ing Africans; they sold them to the South, where untrained 
negroes could find work suited to their small capacity, and 
where they became more and more serviceable as they forgot 
their native savagery and advanced toward civilization. To 
such progress ideals were not lacking for an intelligent negro. 
The forces of a plantation were usually well organized, admit- 
ting not only development of individual merit, with practical 
instruction in the serviceable arts, but even encouraging an 
esprit de corps, which the negroes were so quick to further that 
in many cases restraint was necessary to prevent trouble with 
the brigade in the neighboring settlement. There can be little 
doubt that the vast majority of the negroes were of far greater 
worth, in life and in character, than they could possibly have 
been by remaining in their native forests. By the middle of 
the eighteenth century, more than forty per cent of the entire 
population in the Southern colonies were negroes. Besides 
negro servitude, there was also white servitude throughout 
the colonies. It will be remembered that, in founding some of 
the colonies, debtors were given a chance to work out their 
obligations and secure their freedom. Others bound themselves 
to service for a period of years in payment for transpor- 
tation and other expense money. As a rule, these people 
soon secured their liberty and blended with the other whites. 
Others expiated crimes committed in England by accepting 
a long term of servitude in the New World in lieu of the 
death or other severe penalty imposed by act of parliament. 
There were comparatively few slaves of this kind, but they seem 
to have been utilized by all the colonies without compunction. 
174. Indus- In regard to industries, the colonies varied greatly. Timber, 

tries of small farms, and water power made of New England a manufac- 
the sections ' 

turing and commercial section, which developed more and more 

and became wealthy and powerful. The ship builders of this 

region and the merchants of the mother country were hand and 



FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 



137 



glove in exchanging the slaves of Africa for the molasses of the 
West Indies, and converting the molasses into rum to exchange 
for more slaves. With the connivance of the British govern- 
ment they sold their surplus of negroes to American purchasers, 
and thus became accomplices in establishing the institution 
of slavery. Navigable rivers, the fur trade, the grain exports 
from the Mohawk valley down the Hudson, and a delightful 
climate, urged forward the Middle colonies on their advance to 



Y 



A 






K'i^l'^iii 






.SS^-^^-^^SSs- 



~v<^ , — 



Rice Field 



permanent prosperity and paved the way for the most cosmo- 
politan civilization in the world. Philadelphia and New York 
were already known as flourishing American cities. Indigo, 
tobacco, corn, rice, timber, cattle, and waterways, with cheap 
labor, gave the South its basis of wealth, and made it attrac- 
tive to the man of means beyond the seas.^ 

Most of the commerce of the colonies was carried on with 175. Corn- 
Englishmen. Means of intercolonial communication were ™®"® 
poor, and the colonists naturally looked back to their old home 
for a market. Moreover, there was no common medium of 
exchange, though England's sterling money was more generally 

' In 1764 eight bags of cotton were received in England from a Southern colony. 
The cotton industry was very rapid in developing after Whitney invented the 
"gin." 



138 COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

used than the coins of other nations. Tobacco became a legal 
tender in Virginia and Maryland, and some of the colonies 
issued paper notes with a view to securing a loan or to facilitating 
business. The value of such notes depended upon the colonial 
government's fiat; they were easily issued, and their depreci- 
ation led to business disturbances, which induced the English 
parliament to prevent their issuance (1751). The mercenary 
motives which England revealed in the enactment of trade and 
navigation laws are likewise seen in an endeavor to regulate the 









'!(/ / \i 




\ . ^ti. y^ 









Tobacco Field 

monetary system of the colonies. The persistent treatment of 
the colonies as legitimate prey for the lords of British capital 
was a vital force in producing trouble for the mother country. 
176. Social The industries of the country were important factors in 
conditions ijj-inging about social differences. In the South the system 
of slave labor, and the concurrent growth of agricultural inter- 
ests gave rise to marked peculiarities. The great tobacco 
plantations of tidewater Maryland and Virginia, and the rice 
plantations of South Carolina, had their effect in giving to the 
families holding such estates a prominence almost aristocratic. 
There is no doubt that the influence of this small "class" was 
far greater than was commensurate with its numbers, and 
tended to obscure the merits of the great majority of the white 
people, who owned farms and worked at various vocations, 
and lived free from servility on the one hand and from arro- 



FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 



139 



gance on the other. From the great landowners came the 
leaders in both social and governmental affairs. Their wealth 
and consequent leisure made possible the highest intellectual 
development of enlightened and patriotic citizens. The man- 
sions on their vast estates were the centers of hospitality and 
of festivity on great occasions; and, as a rule, there was little 
superciliousness shown in mingling with their sturdy constitu- 
ents, the white men who were unable or unwilling to own slaves. 
There were very few whites who worked as day laborers for 







-its. 




A Southern Mansion 

hire — hardly enough to place in a distinct class. At the 
bottom of Southern society were the slaves, who were clus- 
tered in "quarters" about the mansion of the master and 
who did very nearly all the manual labor on his plantation. 
There was practically no beggary. In New England the "aris- 
tocracy" was composed of the rich business men and the minis- 
ters, the one holding their places by reason of wealth, the other 
on account of superior education. Below these the social strata 
were not very clearly defined, but social life was not so demo- 
cratic as the political history of that region might lead one to 
believe. The church was the center of public activities and the 
attitude of society was distinctly religious. In the Middle 
colonies, social conditions, like every other interest, partook of 
the character of both the Southern and the New England 
colonies. The planters of Delaware, the patroons of New York, 
and the rich merchants of all the region constituted the upper 



I40 COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

class. The great middle class consisted mainly of farmers, 
tradesmen, artisans, and professional men. Perhaps free white 
laborers were proportionately more numerous there than in any 
other part of the English settlements. 

177. Edu- In matters of education the South depended in the main upon 

the private instruction of clergymen or others who could give 
part of their time to teaching. The children of the well-to-do 
were often sent abroad or to New England in the later years, 
while many others were educated in William and ISIary College 
established in Virginia in 1693. Higher education was more 
general in' the South than in any other section of the coimtry, 
but on account of the absence of all public education general 
illiteracy was greater than in New England. In the North 
something was done toward public education by the establish- 
ment of town schools (supported by local funds) which gave 
instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Some of the 
larger towns maintained the semblance of high schools and were 
blessed with an occasional private academy. Harvard, William 
and Mary, Yale, King's (Columbia), New Jersey (Princeton), 
and Pennsylvania were perhaps something like the "junior 
colleges" of today. The ministry, law, and medicine, in the 
order named, were the leading professions of the colonial 
period. 

178. An We have already seen that religious conditions drove men of 
religious Strong mould and earnest conviction to make their homes in the 
freedom land which they themselves might govern, and so religious sects 

of all lands sought "freedom" in the New World. There was, 
therefore, a greater degree of separation between church and 
state than was common at the time in Europe. Maryland, 
Virginia, and the Carolinas recognized more or less completely 
the established church (Anglican), though the attempt was 
rarely made to enforce religious uniformity. The Episcopalians 
were, therefore, the predominant religious organization in these 
states, but Presbyterians, Catholics, Methodists, and Baptists 
increased rapidly toward the close of the colonial era. That 
the established church was not strong in New England at any 



FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 



141 



time during the colonial period, is easily understood when we 
remember that it was settled chiefly by Dissenters. Because of 
danger from the Indians, and because they came to America in 
communities, the settlers built their homes around the church 
in which they loved to meet; and the custom gave rise to the 
congregational form of worship in which each local church gov- 
erned, for the most part, its own affairs. The New England 
minister rivaled the Southern statesman in scholarship, and left 
an indelible impress upon American life. The Quakers were 
strong in the Middle colonies, particularly in Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey, and Dela- 
ware, while the Dutch 
(Reformed) Church held 
a prominent place in New 
York. Baptists, Metho- 
dists, Presbyterians, and 
Catholics were to be found 
throughout the Middle 
and New England colo- 
nies. Legally there was 
religious freedom in 
Rhode Island and Penn- 
sylvania, but as a matter 
of fact, genuine religious 
toleration, as we have it 
today, was scarcely known 
at that time. If the colonists did not yet know the full mean- 
ing of "religious freedom" they had gone farther toward it 
than any other people in the world. 

As to the political condition of the colonies, that which is of 179. PoUti- 
deepest significance in relation to their governmental activities tions°°'^*' 
is their virile spirit of liberty. There was not a colony from 
Massachusetts to Georgia that did not, at some time or other, 
show unmistakable evidence of a determination to be free. 
As a rule, those who came to America were of the most liberal 
element in England, but in any case their whole environment 




A Virginia Mansion Party 



142 COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

in the New World was conducive to the development of local 
self-government. Distance from the mother country, poor 
means of ocean travel, necessary dependence upon themselves 
both for their common defense and for the necessities of life, 
the hardships that always accompany the settlement of a new 
country — all these things and many more cooperated with 
that instinct for freedom which has always been a characteris- 
tic of the Anglo-Saxon race and which was particularly strong 
with the American colonists; the result was the establishment of 
the most liberal and enlightened commonwealths of the world. 
In the development of their institutions they were not creating 
anew, however, so much as building upon and enlarging the old. 
Englishmen had long been accustomed to Magna Charta (12 15), 
their traditional bulwark to individual liberty; fresher still in 
the minds of the colonists was the Petition of Right (1628), 
the granting of which had been wrung from King Charles I in 
his struggle against parliament for the control of the nation's 
purse. Then, too, there was the Habeas Corpus Act (1679), 
and the Bill of Rights (1689), each standing as a landmark in 
the development of English liberty. Add to these written 
constitutional documents the common law of England, and 
the foundation of political development becomes as strong as 
instinct and as permanent as reason. 
180. Forms The political genius of the colonists expressed itself under two 
government fo^ms: (i) In the legal relations between the colonies and the 
mother country; (2) In the kind of local government erected. 
With respect to the former, there were three official kinds: (i) 
Provincial, in which the home government attempted to govern 
directly through governors. The colonies organized in this way 
were Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, 
New York, New Hampshire, and (after the trustees surrendered 
their proprietorship in 1752) Georgia. (2) Proprietary, in which 
individuals or groups of individuals, holding from the crown, 
administered the colonies; these were Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
and Delaware. (3) Charter, in which there was a kind of con- 
stitutional law granted to the colonies by the home government; 



FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 143 

at the close of the colonial period these were Alassachusetts, 
Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 

While there were these three differences, more or less distinct, 
in their official relations with the mother country, all the colonies 
were organized much after the same fashion. For example, 
they recognized three separate departments of government: 

(i) The executive, whether elective as in Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, or appointive by the kings or proprietors as in all 
the other colonies, was the highest colonial office in America. 




Baltimore in 1752 
After an engraving in Scharf s History of Baltimore 

The governor's powers were extensive, though not always the 
same in the different colonies. He usually appointed the 
members of the upper branch of the legislature and could veto 
any measure passed by that body. He appointed the judges 
and most other important colonial officials. The term of the 
elective governor was one year, while others held their places 
during the pleasure of the appointive power. 

(2) The- legislative, which, except in Pennsylvania, Georgia, 
and Delaware, consisted of two houses. The upper house, 
usually appointed by the governor, acted as his counsellor and 
assisted in the process of law-making. The members of the 
lower and more numerous branch of the legislature were 



government 



144 COLONIAL CONDITIONS IN 1760 

elected for one year by popular vote, though suffrage was 
restricted by a property qualification and generally also by 
a religious qualification. Toward the close of the colonial 
era this branch of government became so powerful as to defy 
the governors and king, and thus developed leaders for the 
approaching struggle with the mother country. 

(3) Colonial courts, which furnished the germ of the later 
judicial system. The judges were appointed usually by the 
crown or the governor, who largely controlled them. Trial by 
jury, however, was an "inalienable" right. 
181. Local The various reasons for the differences in the form of local 
government have been noticed in a previous chapter. We are 
here interested only in their operation. The county court, 
appointed by the governor and presided over by the justice 
of the peace, levied the taxes and passed the governing ordi- 
nances. The sheriff of this court, also appointed by the gov- 
ernor, served the court in the administration of the law. The 
office of sheriff was the least democratic of all local colonial 
institutions. In the Middle colonies, where both the county 
and the town systems were in vogue, it was frequently the case 
that public oflficials were chosen by the people and local gov- 
ernment was therefore more democratic than in the South. 
But the most democratic region, so far as local government is 
concerned, was New England. Here the town was the unit of 
organization and the town church and city hall were the centers 
of political activity. The voters here made their laws, levied 
their taxes, elected their officials (including a pastor) and listened 
to the reports of their selectmen. This method is still followed 
in parts of the country and has served to give color to local 
institutions and political thought throughout the New England 
region. 

SUMMARY 

One hundred and fifty years of English colonial life were given to setting 
up local institutions and making them stable. By (1760) the end of the 
period, it had been determined that American institutions would be Anglo- 
Saxon in character rather than Spanish or French, or Portuguese, or Dutch. 



FREE LOCAL INSTITUTIONS 145 

Moreover, it was reasonably evident that the spirit of liberty had found 
richer soil here than in any other country in the world. Nowhere else in 
the world was there such free government; nowhere else so much tolera- 
tion in religion; nowhere else such constant appeal to the energy of an indus- 
trious people; nowhere else so little of caste; and finally and fundamentally 
nowhere else so much love of truth and desire for enlightenment. Popu- 
lation was increasing rapidly, industries were multiplying, and forces were 
at work, and had been from the beginning, that were slowly but surely weld- 
ing the American colonies into one. Free local institutions having now been 
established, it remained to be seen what would next dominate the thought 
and feeling of American-Englishmen. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What authority is there for the statement that the colonial charters were a 
kind of constitution? 2. How did the colonists usually feel toward their governors? 
Why? 3. Describe the kinds of colonial governments in America in 1760. 4. Give 
as many reasons as you can for the development oifree local institutions. 5. Where 
did the town system of government originate? The county system? Why was the 
one transferred to New England, the other to the South? 6. Why were the negroes 
so much more numerous in the South than in the North? Did slavery have any- 
thing to do with the development of the county as the unit of government in the 
South? 7. Make a list of things that existed in the colonies, and that do not exist 
now. 8. Make a list of things that exist now that did not exist in colonial times. 
9. How is the largest town in your county governed now? 10. Has the spirit of 
freedom grown any in this country since 1760? Prove your answer. Is it full 
grown now? 11. Name some of the opportunities for self-development that you 
enjoy that were not open to the young people of 1760. 



CHAPTER X 
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Fiske, American Revolution, vol. i; Howard, Pre- 
liminaries of the Revolution; Van Tyne, American Revolution; Woodrow Wilson, 
The American People; Hosmer, Samuel Adams. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, American History Told by Contemporaries, vol. 
ii; American History Leaflets, Nos. 21, 23', MacDonald, Select Charters. 

Illustrative Material. — CofSn, Daughters of the Revolution; Thompson, 
Green Mountain Boys; Yord, Poems of History {The Boston Tea Party); Thackeray, 
The Virginians; Moore, Songs and Ballads of the American Revolution. 

COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT 

182. Great The history of the EngHsh colonies in America embraces a 
develop- period of one hundred and seventy years. At the beginning of 
tending this period Jamestown was settled; at its close, the Declara- 
towardin- ^-^^^ ^£ Independence was proclaimed; within that period, a 

tremendous Cause was working — the Cause of liberty, and the 

Cause of man, working toward the 

" One far-off divine event 
To which the whole creation moves." 

The mercenary motives that influenced the planting of 
the English colonies continued to affect their management. 
Although England's colonial policy was more liberal than that 
of any other nation, yet merchants, court favorites, and kings 
never permitted parliament to lose sight of their material inter- 
ests in America. It would seem that the development of a 
century and a half, in both the mother country and the colonies, 
should have given British statesmen a vision and a policy unlike 
the narrow view that regarded the settlements as trading-posts, 
and very different from the mode of exploitation which actually 
obtained. For Great Britain was now in the front rank of the 



COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT 147 

nations; while in the colonies, in every material and moral 
way, the rate of progress had been greater than that in the 
mother country. The colonists had earned the right to regard 
their governmental conditions above the commerce of Great 
Britain or the glory of a king whom few had seen and possibly 
fewer still had reason to love. They had increased from a few 
scattered settlements to more than a million and a half of 
people, vigorous, intelligent, equal to any people of western 
Europe, and in love with the theory of self-government; and 
these people regarded themselves as fixed in their homes. 
Generations had lived and died in America. Parents and grand- 
parents of thousands who participated in the stirring events 
that led to the Revolution had been born on the soil which now 
their descendants owned. Many of them knew the native 
Englishman as only a royal governor or member of the council, 
or as a hated customs ofificer. Not many of these officers were 
in position to endear themselves to the men who found it neces- 
sary to outrage a good conscience in protecting smugglers from 
punishment for violating laws that were traditionally unjust 
and oppressive. Doubtless thousands of settlers had sat by 
the open log fire in the evening when they were children, and 
heard their fathers and grandfathers tell the stories of the 
perennial struggle for representative assemblies from 1619 to 
their own time. Opposition to the oppressor had become a 
part of the subconscious mind of lineal Americans. 

Men from all countries had come to the English colonies, but 183. The 
they had not become EngHshmen. They were British subjects, '^o^o'^sts 
but, living in the woods of America, fighting Indians at one exclusively 
time and royal governors at others, there was no great induce- ^^^gl'sh 
ment to offer their lives in the service of Great Britain. The 
Dutch and the Swedes, who had distinguished the early history 
of New York and Delaware, had left descendants that were 
American, not British. Many hardy Germans had come to 
Pennsylvania and other colonies. Huguenots from France, and 
many most valuable Scotch and Scotch-Irish people had added 
both steel and iron to the blood of the Carolinians, and the 



148 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



184. De- 
mand for 
freedom in 
religion 



infusion of all this blood into the English stock brought little 
strength to Great Britain's hold on the American colonies. 

The Church of England was part of the machinery of the 
government, and it always figured in British politics. It was 
but natural that an effort should be made to bring the institu- 
tion to America. This effort was made, and successfully made, 
in Virginia, Georgia, Carolina, and Maryland, where the church 

was established by 
law. It was but 
natural also that 
these state 
churches should 
desire a bishop, a 
resident American 
bishop, and an 
effort was made to 
establish the epis- 
copacy in America. 
The matter was 
first proposed by 
the ill-starred 
Archbishop Laud, 
and it was advo- 
cated by other 
influential church- 
men. It received the approval of Queen Anne just before 
her death. Thomas Sherlock, bishop of London (174S-1761), 
labored assiduously to engraft the system on the American 
colonies.^ Many pamphlets were written on each side of the 
controversy. American clergymen, as a rule, opposed, while 
English clergymen favored the plan. The controversy stirred 
Puritan Massachusetts and her circle of influences, and the 
agitation became a force in destroying English sentiment in 
the Northern colonies. All of these movements contributed 
to the general discontent. 

^ Hart, American Nation, 63-75. 




Lntekiuk uf King's Chapel, Boston 
Built in 1754 



MATERIAL INTERESTS 149 

MATERIAL INTERESTS 

The age-long source or ground of misunderstanding, injustice, 185. Injus- 

and oppression was the system of navigation laws. As far back ti^e of the 
^'^ ■' ° navigation 

as the fourteenth century, under Richard II, laws were enacted laws 

to compel all English citizens to ship their merchandise out of, 
or into, England in English bottoms on pain of forfeiture. In 
the latter part of the fifteenth century, under Henry VII, only 
English-built ships, manned by English seamen, could import 
certain articles of trade, and in Elizabeth's reign the English 
shipowner was greatly favored. Therefore, it should not be 
inferred that the na\dgation laws of the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries were invented especially to embarrass or destroy 
American interests. The primary purpose was to encourage 
Englishmen to build ships that would finally obtain the business 
then handled by the Dutch, and thus would produce a balance 
of trade for England. 

The navigation acts were the chief means in the building 
up of monopolies in all lines of trade, to the benefit of Eng- 
lish trading companies or merchants, who divided profits with 
the king. The colonies were for a long while exempt from 
the operation of these laws, but were placed under them in the 
seventeenth century in the reign of James I. 

In 1645 a very restrictive law was passed requiring all goods 
from the colonies to be transported in English-built ships, 
owned by native Englishmen, and manned by native English 
sailors. Later, the term "Englishman" was made to include 
the colonists, who could then engage in the profitable busi- 
ness. For more than a hundred years the colonies labored 
under repressive and destructive navigation laws, before active 
resistance began. One writer says: "From 165 1 to 1764 more 
than twenty-five acts were passed in Parliament regulating trade 
between England and her colonies. Each succeeding ministry 
felt it necessary to adopt some new scheme for monopolizing 
colonial trade, in order to win popularity at home. It was in 
1 73 1 when the government began to repress manufacture in 



150 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



186. The 
navigation 
laws not for 
revenue 



187. Inju- 
rious 

restrictions 
of colonial 
trade 



the colonies of the goods made in England; after that date 
more acts having that end in view were passed." 

The navigation laws were passed not in the interest of the 
government of England primarily, but in the interest of the 
commercial classes, upon whom, in great measure, the general 
prosperity of the nation rested, and who in turn divided profits 
with the king, but not with the government. Grenville found 
that in sixty years the government had paid out nearly thirty- 
five million pounds on the fleet engaged in American trade, and 
that in one year the American custom houses received from one 
thousand to two thousand pounds, the collecting of which had 
cost seven thousand or eight thousand pounds sterling. 

The whole matter was one of English commerce, but it became 
so pressing that resistance to the everlasting sacrifice of colo- 
nial interests to those of England brought up the cjuestion 
of parliament's right to pass laws destructive of English rights 
and liberties. 

The navigation laws in force at the time now studied, re- 
stricted American trade to British markets, compelling colonial 
merchants to purchase at high prices, to sell at low prices, and 
to pay the high freight charges fixed by the shipowners, who 
of course had a monopoly of the carrying business. The sugar 
planter was compelled to sell his sugar in Great Britain for a 
low price, when prices were higher in all other markets. The 
New England business in lumber, fur, and fish was embarrassed 
by similar arbitrary laws. 

The colonists were required to conduct their European busi- 
ness through a factor or wholesale house in Great Britain, for no 
other reason than that parliament wished to give the business 
to the British wholesale house. This was called "stapling." 

A duty was laid in Great Britain upon farm products so that 
the American farmer could not ship his crop to a British market, 
which must be free from competition for the benefit of the 
British farmer. The "balance of trade," sought by all nations, 
that would bring in money but send out as little as possible, 
was Great Britain's ruling desire. 



GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS 151 

In 1733 parliament passed the Molasses Act, which was 188. The 

intended to prevent the Northern colonies from exchanging ^tl^^ff^ t 

their lumber, fish, and manufactured articles, with the West upon the 

Indies for molasses, which in turn they manufactured into rum ^^^f. ^^^^i 
' -' . Enghsh 

and sent abroad in exchange for other merchantable articles, protected 
They had built up a very large business in exchanging rum for ** *^® 
slaves on the coast of Africa, which slaves they sold to the of the 
Southern colonists. The trade was destroyed, not because of '^°^"^'"^*^ 
any opposition to the rum trade or the slave trade, for both were 
entirely legitimate at the time, but because of the motive to 
compel trade with Great Britain, and to give the profit to British 
merchants, middlemen, and shipowners. Very large amounts 
of money had been invested in the trade itself, and in ships to 
carry the goods. Large numbers of men were employed in 
the business, but all this was sacrificed, without thought of 
injustice to the colonies, in order that British merchants might 
profit. 

Although the colonists had had for a hundred years the right 
to participate in English commerce and ship-building, only a 
few of the more fortunate and wealthy had been able to profit 
by it. Restrictions of trade embarrassed them, because all 
laws were made from the English point of view. Ship-building 
grew to be an important industry in the North, but the colonists 
were in the main pastoral and agricultural. The laws bore 
heavily on thousands of toiling colonists, to build up fortunes 
for people in England. The fundamental error in the English 
mind was that the colonies were "possessions" that existed 
only for the good of England. 

GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS 

Belief in the right to liberty had grown more rapidly in 189. Repre- 
America than in England, and the American conception of rep- mentation 
resentation was in advance of the English idea. In England, 
certain towns or boroughs were given the right to send mem- 
bers to parliament. Old towns died away and still had 
representation in parliament, while new cities sprang up and 



152 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



190. The 

right of 
suffrage 



191. The 
king and 
parliament 



192. Am- 
bition of 
King 
George III 



at the time of the Revolution had never had any represen- 
tation, except in the EngHsh sense, which was that every 
member represented all England. 

English laws on the subject were illogical, a patch work, and 
out of date. England had a property qualification for voting, 
and, for reasons lost sight of, certain possessors of certain rights 
could vote. "All those who had the right to cook at the com- 
mon lire could vote." As a result, only about an eighth of the 
people in England had the right to vote. Others had never 
had such a right, and hence it was unconstitutional for them 
to vote. Such conditions were unknown in America. Though 
it is true that suffrage was not unrestricted with the colonists, 
yet most of them voted directly for their representatives in the 
assemblies, and they were consulted about many important 
matters in their town meetings. They had learned to claim 
the right to think and act in the affairs of their government. 
Hence they were unable to see how they were represented in 
parliament by men for whom they had not voted, and whom 
they had not seen, and whose names they had not heard. 

Another confusing fact was that they had long looked to the 
king for their rights. Parliament had had nothing to do with 
charter rights and grants, and now parliament was showing a 
wish to dictate. It had not been so before. It was, therefore, 
unconstitutional. Yet the king and parliament were them- 
selves not quite agreed on this point at that time, and the 
condition was but additional to other reasons why the authori- 
ties in England could not come to an understanding as to the 
rights of Englishmen. 

Great Britain and the colonies looked upon the problem of 
their relations from points of view that were as far apart as 
were the two countries geographically. England's traditional 
view had become the "constitution" to Englishmen, very 
difficult indeed to change. She was hardly competent to judge 
of the conditions as they really were; and her difficulty was 
greatly increased by the accession to the throne of George III, 
whose highest ambition seemed to be to restore to the crown 



GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS 



153 



the usurped prerogative which violently attached to it under 
the Stuart kings. In those days arbitrary acts of the king had 
been committed without the sanction of parliament. George 
III assembled a ministry in sympathy with his view and sub- 
servient to his will. With these handicaps British statesmen 
undertook the solution of the greatest problem that ever con- 
fronted a government. 

The treaty of Paris closed the 
Seven Years' war, and left a large 
war debt, a part of which had been 
contracted in the defense of the 
American colonies in the French 
and Indian war. Moreover, the 
treaty gave to Great Britain the 
region between the Atlantic colo- 
nies and the Mississippi river. The ^ 
war debt and the annexation of 
the trans-Alleghany region to Can- 
ada (208) would prove sources of 
friction. The feeling of depend- 
ence upon England for protection against the French or the 
Indians was removed and a closer view of the relations between 
the mother country and her colonies was becoming possible 
and unavoidable. Among the troublesome problems needing 
solution were the following: (i) Was the American colonist, 
whose ancestors had emigrated from England a hundred and 
fifty years previously, an Englishman, having all the rights 
of an Englishman under the constitution? (2) What were his 
rights as an Englishman in the colonies? (3) Could England 
and the colonists agree on the meaning of representation? If 
these questions, which became burning ones in 1763, could 
have been settled in a friendly way, there would have been 
no Revolutionary War, but the participants could not agree 
on the correct answers to the questions, and so in 1776 the 
colonists advanced to the broader assertion, not of the rights 
of Englishmen, but of the rights of man. 




193. The 

war debt; 
the rights 
of English- 
men 



Kl L, CiE RCL 111 



154 CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 

OPPRESSIVE MEASURES 

194. The In 1763 Lord Grenville became prime minister to George III, 
Do'licy ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ motion a colonial policy involving three main lines 

of procedure: 

1. A more rigid enforcement of the navigation laws. 

2. "Internal" and external taxation of the colonists to raise 
money, a part of which was to pay the debt incurred in the 
defense of the colonies during the French and Indian wars. 

3. The quartering of British troops in America. 

195. "Writs The first steps of the Grenville ministry were to revive the 
of Assist" 

ance" "Sugar Act," and add to the "enumerated" list of taxable 

articles a number of others. Grenville sought so to enforce 
the tariff schedules as to make them a source of revenue rather 
than an expense, as they had been before this date. To bring 
about a more vigorous and profitable enforcement of the navi- 
gation laws, the evasion and violation of which had destroyed 
England's revenue from this source, he employed a method not 
unknown either in the colonies or in England — the issuance of 
what were called "writs of assistance." The writs were originally 
issued by the Court of Exchequer, which was the king's court 
for the collection of money due the crown. In the colonies they 
were first issued by the chief justices, but later by the "superior 
courts." They were general in their directions and provisions, 
allowing the officer who held a writ to search any place in the 
day time, for any article that he believed to have escaped duty 
at the custom house, and to call the citizens to his assistance. 
Of course, the authority granted under these writs was greatly 
abused. And it is equally true that the colonists had come to 
believe that since these duties were heavy and unfair they ought 
not to pay them, even though parliament and the king had 
fixed the tariff. 

196. Atrial On February 24, 1761, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts 
James Otis ^^^^ ^ sitting in the old town house of Boston to hear the case of 

Charles Paxton, who appHed for a writ of assistance. Chief 
Justice Thomas Hutchinson presided. Paxton was represented 



OPPRESSIVE MEASURES 155 

by Jeremiah Gridley, one of the best lawyers in the province. 
Oxenbridge Thatcher and James Otis appeared against the 
writs. Gridley argued that, since parliament had directed the 
issuance of the writs, there was nothing to do but obey. Otis, ^ 
in his reply, was exceedingly bold, and his utterances were 
very influential in strengthening the spirit of resistance to 
usurpation. It was in this speech that he used the famous 
sentence, "Taxation without representation is tyranny," which 
speedily became a watchword. 

The chief justice cast his vote in favor of the writs. Other 
members of the court reserved their decisions until they could 
make further investigation. No decision was ever rendered, but 
writs of assistance continued to issue. The speech of Otis had 
no legal effect, but it gave words to the latent thought of the 
people, and opposition formed around the principles expressed 
in it. 

In the matter of the judiciary, the impetuous and narrow 197. The 
prince, King George III, asserted the "royal prerogative" as " """y?^ Pf ®" 
against constitutional rights, and proposed to appoint judges 
during good behavior, which meant, of course, subservience to 
the king's will.^ To protect themselves, the colonial assemblies 
provided salaries of judges for only one year at a time. If they 
could not remove the king's officer, they could refuse to pay 
him. This contest between the king and the assemblies, which 
had begun in New York, was carried into other colonies as 
soon as the king decreed that all judicial commissions should 
be issued during good behavior. 

In the development of the Grenville policy, the prime minister 198. A 
introduced a resolution in parliament, March, 1764, expressing ^**™p *f* 
the belief that it would be necessary to tax the colonies to help 
in bearing the ex-pense of a standing army to be kept in America 
for their protection. The resolution passed without debate. 
He then called the colonial agents together to see if they could 

^ Benjamin Pratt, chief justice of New York, said: "The people ought to be 
ignorant; and our free schools are the bane of society; they make the lowest of 
the people infinitely conceited." 



156 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



propose any method of taxation or any other means whereby 
the colonists would willingly help to bear this expense. 

The colonies had assisted England in conquering an old 
enemy. They had furnished their share of men and money 
— and more — in the French war. They had fought King 
William's war, 1689-1697, Queen Anne's war, 1702-1713, and 
King George's war, 1 744-1 748, without assistance from the 
mother country. They had quelled many an Indian uprising, 



8 



m^ 



Penny) 





Stamps Authorized by Parliament for use in the Colonies 



199. The 
Stamp Act 
passed 



and could take care of themselves. Since the French had been 
drawn off the continent, they saw no reason for a standing 
army, and somehow they had the idea that a standing army 
was a menace to their liberties. They said, "Taxation without 
representation is tyranny." They said that it would take all the 
circulating medium out of the country to pay for the stamps; 
and they said other things. 

But parliament had a different view of the matter. Great 
Britain had just closed an expensive war in protection of the 
colonies. The regular troops had just subdued the Pontiac 
uprising against the English in America. A standing army 
would be a protection against the Indians now in the western 
woods from the AUeghanies to the Mississippi, or other enemies 
that might appear. It was not proposed that the colonists 
should be taxed to support the home government. 

The bill passed parliament March 10, 1764, by a vote of 
205 to 44 in the House of Commons, and in the House of Lords 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



157 



"without debate, division or protest." It provided that all 
books, newspapers, deeds, notes, and other legal documents 
should be printed on stamped paper. Franklin and Otis were so 
conlident that the colonists would acquiesce that they suggested 
some of their best 

friends for appoint- .,^]f%, ^ -=-^ 

ment as stamp officers. "^Iv-^l '- ^""""'^^ - 

Honest and true pa- 
triots at first accepted 
the offices, but after- 
ward gave them up. 
A stamp tax was not a 
new idea in America. 
It had been suggested 
by Sir William Keith, 
governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1 7 28, and 
again in 1732. It had 
been discussed by the 
governor of New York 
in 1744, and proposed 
by Governor Shirley 
o f Massachusetts i n 
1754 and 1756. 
Franklin had opposed the measure as a matter of policy, but 
he did not anticipate the violent opposition that it was to meet. 
He suggested that the necessary amounts be assessed against 
each colony in an aggregate sum. He was unable to answer the 
prime minister's question how the total should be divided 
among the colonies — a question that was troublesome later. 




Burning Stamped Paper 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 

Martin Howard of Newport, in arguing the cause of the200. The 

loyalists, said in substance: (i) The colonists have no right to "S^*^. °* ^'^^ 
•^ colonists as 

nullify the acts of parliament. (2) Under their charter they Englishmen 
have only "civil rights," and not political rights. They have 



158 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



the right to life, liberty, and property, but the political right of 
representation in parliament is a conferred right when it is 
possessed at all. Political rights are specifically conferred, and 
when not thus conferred they are not possessed by Englishmen 
anywhere. They are not conferred in commercial charters. 
(3) Colonists are not exempt from taxation because they do not 
send members to parliament, or vote for them. In parliament 
they are represented as every other English subject is repre- 
sented. ... At the time of the passage of the act he said, 
"Birmingham and Manchester had no representative, although 
they were large and important commercial centers." . . . 
"Therefore," he concluded, "the colonists may justly challenge 

the wisdom of a particular 
measure of parliament, but 
not its jurisdiction." Such 
was the English idea of repre- 
sentation, but in the colonies, 
the changes were rung on the 
right of Englishmen to be taxed 
only by their representatives 
— and they had no representa- 
tion in parliament. Franklin 
and Otis, seeing the storm, 
recommended that America be 
allowed representation in par- 
liament, but the suggestion 
was regarded as impracticable 
It should be borne in mind that 
the navigation acts were never discussed as tax measures until 
after the close of the French and Indian war. These were 
regarded as laws to promote the interests of trade. In fact, 
they never produced any revenue to the government, because 
it required more money to enforce collections than was pro- 
duced to the government by the custom house duties; moreover, 
they were easily evaded. The stamp act, however, could not 
be evaded; it was self-executing, and it would produce a revenue 




Patrick Henry 



both in England and America. 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



159 



that would reach the exchequer. Such was the theory of the 

British government, and yet, in the conclusion, it was found 

that the revenue arising from the sale of stamped paper was 

but £4000, a sum not sufficient to reimburse the exchequer for 

the cost of putting the law into effect. 

The first overt opposition came from Virginia under the 201. Oppo- 

impetuous leadership of Patrick Henry in his famous speech in ^^}^°^ *° ^^^ 
i^ ^ J 1^ stamp act 

the house of burgesses in favor of the five resolutions which he develops 
proposed against the acceptance of the stamp act, closing the ''^sistance 




Patrick Henry Addressing the Virginia Assembly 

speech with the fiery words: "Caesar and Tarquin each had 
his Brutus, Charles I had his Cromwell, and George III may 
profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of 
it." He maintained that the colonists had been governed by 
"their own assembly in the article of taxes and internal police" 
and had not forfeited their right, and that the representatives of 
and in Virginia were the only power having the right to tax the 
people of Virginia. The sum of his contention was that parlia- 
ment had no right to legislate on the internal affairs of Virginia. 
Unfortunately, about the time when popular indignation 
was aflame on account of the stamp act, parliament passed the 
bill to quarter a part of the standing army in America at the 
expense of the colonies. Then, under Samuel Adams of Boston, 



i6o 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



202. The 
Stamp Act 
Congress 



the most watchful and earnest of patriots, Massachusetts 
followed Virginia in active organized opposition to British 
aggression. 

When the stamped paper was sent to America trouble began. 
The home of Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson, who was also 
chief justice of Massachusetts, was attacked, and his papers and 
books were destroyed or scattered. Stamp officers were insulted 
and their places of business were sacked. The opposition be- 
came so violent that no American would accept the office of 
stam.p distributor. 

The Virginia Resolutions, drawn and pushed through the 
assembly by Patrick Henry, were printed and scattered quickly 
throughout all the colonies. "While Virginia was raising the 

standard of resistance, Massachu- 
setts pointed the way to union." 
On June 6, upon motion of James 
Otis, the Massachusetts assembly 
suggested that all assemblies then 
in session be invited to elect dele- 
gates to meet other delegates in 
New York, October 7, 1765, to 
discuss the dangers that might 
arise from the stamp act. On the 
date named, all but New Hamp- 
shire had sent delegates. 

The convention, or congress, 
was composed of the notable 
men in the colonies. Its tone was respectful and loyal, but 
determined. It expressed itself in a Declaration of Rights. 
The rights claimed in this document were those of "natural 
born subjects." The congress asserted that the people of the 
colonies "are not and from the nature of their local circum- 
stances cannot be represented in the House of Commons, and 
that no taxes can be constitutionally levied upon them but by 
their respective legislatures." They referred to the fact that 
the trials of cases under the stamp act were to be held in the 




William Pitt 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



i6i 



courts of admiralty, and they asserted that trial by jury is the 
inherent right of British subjects in America. 

The spirit of resistance and of union grew rapidly after the 203. Effects 
work of this congress was made known. The colonists had at°^^ ® g^. 
last learned how to "pull together," to forget temporarily, or repeal of the 
to ignore, their small jealousies, sinking them in the good of ^*^™p ^*^* 
the whole. The resistance to the stamp act became universal. 
Stamp officers resigned. The stamps were stored at the docks 
in ships, or destroyed. "Non-importation" societies were 
formed and resolutions to refrain from using British-made goods 
were passed and kept. English merchants failed for lack of 
American business. The Gren- 
ville ministry saw the disastrous 
effects of its policy, and King 
George became weary of parlia- 
ment's blunders. The ministry 
resigned. A large party sprang 
up in parliament, who, as a mat- 
ter of statesmanship, were 
America's friends, and who be- 
lieved that the colonists were 
fighting for the freedom of Eng- 
lishmen everywhere. Names 
dear to all Americans are Burke, 
Camden, Conway, Barre, and 

the greatest of them all, William Pitt. It was Barre who first 
referred to the American patriots as "Sons of Liberty," a name 
to conjure with later. Unfortunately, about the time of the 
fall of the Grenville ministry, Pitt retired from parliament. 
The stamp act was repealed in 1765 by a vote of two to one in 
parliament, after the Grenville ministry fell. With its repeal, 
there was passed the "Declaration Act," proclaiming that the 
stamp act had been repealed as a matter of policy, and that 
parliament had full power to make any laws whatsoever to 
be binding on the people of the colonies. 

In America the declaration act was regarded as mere bluster. 




Edmund Burke 



1 62 CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 

204. A ques- " The great principle of English law that taxation was not a 
*^°h °^ h ^ighl, but a gift of the persons taxed, through their represen- 
Townshend tatives, was claimed by the colonies." William Pitt had held 
^'*^ that a colony could be taxed only by its representatives. The 

American idea of representation was irreconcilable with the 
English idea of "virtual representation." It was argued on 
the one side that the rights of the colonists were found only 
in their charters. On the other hand the colonists asserted 
that they dealt with the king and not with parliament; there- 
fore, parliament could not tax them. They were afraid to 
admit parliament's right to levy "internal tax." It had 
already "regulated" their trade until in some instances it 
was destroyed; now to admit the right of direct taxation, 
where would the matter end? 

Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, pushed 
through parliament a list of laws which have been summarized 
as follows: 

(i) To provide for colonial revenue an importation duty 
on wine, oil, glass, paper, lead, tea, etc. (2) Revenue so 
raised was to be used in paying the salaries of governors and 
judges, thus making them independent of the colonists. (3) To 
improve the custom house service. (4) Writs of assistance 
to be employed. (5) Revenue cases to be tried in admiralty 
courts without juries. (6) Suspension of the New York legis- 
lature because it refused to vote supplies for English troops. 

The whole fight was reopened and with greater earnestness 
on both sides. To the Townshend acts resistance was more 
prompt, deliberate, and effectual than to the stamp act. Massa- 
chusetts, through Samuel Adams, put all the town meetings to 
work again; the whole province responded to the suggestion 
from Mr. Adams, to use no more English goods. Virginia 
followed promptly. A letter sent to all the colonies encouraged 
vigorous measures, though it breathed loyalty to the king. 

205. The As an enforcing measure, parliament had authorized the 
ReSlutions ^^"^ ^'^ revive an old statute of Henry VIII, which provided 

that persons might be transported to England to be tried for 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



163 




Samuel Adams 



crimes committed outside the realm. This statute was specially 
offensive to Americans. 

In May, 1769, the Virginia 
assembly passed resolutions to the 
effect : 

(i) That not parliament, but 
the council and king, or their 
representatives, possess the sole 
right to tax Virginia. (2) That 
one or all of the colonies have the 
right to petition for redress of 
wrongs.^ (3) That it was uncon- 
stitutional to transport a man to 
England to be tried for crimes 
alleged in America, or to deprive 
a man of the right of trial by jury. 

Upon the passage of the resolutions, the governor dissolved 
the assembly, but many of the members soon met elsewhere 
and resolved again on the non-importation of English goods. 
In this assembly were Henry, Jefferson, and Washington. 

When the Massachusetts circular letter went out (204) the 
British government ordered the assembly to rescind the letter, 
and the assembly refused. The assembly was dissolved, and all 
colonial governors were directed to dissolve any assembly that 
attempted resolves or protests touching the acts of parliament. 
These orders were followed by sending troops to Boston, and 
by the law requiring persons charged with crime to be sent to 
England for trial. 

In its purpose of quartering troops in America, the govern- 
ment was expending about £160,000. The revenue was small; 
the colonists were showing a rebellious spirit; English mer- 
chants were being forced into bankruptcy on account of the 
self-imposed non-importation agreements, and the English cause 
was lost. 



206. Pro- 
gressive 
coercion in 
Massachu- 
setts 



207. Town- 

shend Acts 

partly 

repealed; 

Boston 

Indians 



* Parliament had held that the colonies had no right to petition parliament on a 
question of taxation. 



164 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



208. The 
Punitive 
Acts; the 
Boston 
Port BiU 



All duties were repealed except the tax on tea, which was 
left on in order to show that parliament had the right to make 
the le\'y. The duty was so small that the tea cost less than 
in England, but the colonists could not be forced to drink tea. 




The Boston Tea-Party 
From an old print 

Some cargoes of tea were in ships in Boston harbor. A sound 
as of Indians was heard by night, and next morning the tea 
was in Boston harbor. 

The parliament now passed five acts to crush the rebellious 
spirit of the colonists, and especially to punish Boston: (i) The 
port of Boston should be closed until the town submitted. (2) 
Certain provisions of the Massachusetts charter, granted by 
William III, were revoked by parliament. (3) Persons charged 
with certain crimes might be sent to England for trial. (4) Sol- 
diers might be Cjuartcred in Massachusetts, at parliament's 
pleasure. (5) Canada was granted religious freedom and 
trials according to the French civil law, and Quebec was made 
the capital of all the territory beyond the AUeghanies. 

The climax of British aggression was reached when the Boston 
Port Bill was passed. The cry went through all the colonies that 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



165 



the cause of Boston was the cause of all. Provisions and supplies 
were freely sent to Boston from other colonies. Committees of 
correspondence soon began work in each colony to inform the 
people concerning what 
was being done. The first 
machinery of the Revolu- 
tion was about ready. 

To enforce the new coer- 
cive measures, General 
Gage was sent to Boston 
as governor. Again Sam- 
uel Adams proved his title 
to leadership ; through the 
general court of Massa- 
chusetts he secured the 
passage of a resolution in- 
viting all the colonies to 
meet in conference or con- 
gress, and on September 

5, 1774, the deputies from 

, , , . , . Carpenters' Hall, 1774 

twelve colonies met in > //t 

Philadelphia. With the ^^^"'^ '^' ^'''' Continental Congress met 
exception of Franklin and Jefferson, all the prominent political 
leaders were present. Georgia was not represented, her royal 
governor having succeeded in preventing an election of deputies. 
The congress agreed upon a Declaration of Rights, embodied in 
nine resolutions, and demanded the repeal of eleven acts of 
parliament repugnant to these rights. It advised the colonies 
to cease commercial intercourse with Great Britain until the 
mother country should repeal the acts complained of, and an 
association was formed for the purpose of furthering the boy- 
cott, as it would be called in modern days. The congress also 
addressed a loyal petition to the king. A recommendation was 
made that the colonies meet again by deputies on the loth of 
May, 1775, unless more favorable conditions should ensue. 
This congress dissolved on the 26th of October. Its functions 




209. Gage 

sent to 
Boston; the 
work of 
Congress; 
its functions 



i66 



CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 



210. The 

revolution 
of Massa- 
chusetts 



211. Acts 
of violence 



had been only advisory; its deputies, delegated by the sev- 
eral distinct colonies, represented only their respective colonies, 
at whose charge and expense they had undergone the labors 
entailed. Probably the greatest good accomplished was their 
furnishing common guidance to the assemblies, many or all of 
which passed resolutions endorsing the work of the congress 
and taking steps to abide by its recommendations. 

In September, while congress was in session at Philadelphia, 
General Gage, who had been made royal governor of Massa- 
chusetts, as well as commander-in-chief of the British forces, 

called the general court to meet at 
Salem. The representatives met, 
resolved themselves into a provin- 
cial congress, and moved to Cam- 
bridge, where they took charge of 
all the state government outside 
the city of Boston, and organized 
a military force known as minute- 
men, one fourth of whom were 
I) commanded to be always ready 
for action. A committee of safety 
was also created, with John Han- 
cock as chairman. These acts 
constituted the Revolution of 
Massachusetts, and the creation of a state in opposition to 
the state of Great Britain. 

While the political excitement was at its height, there had been 
actual resistance by force to the measures of king and parlia- 
ment. Near Philadelphia, the guns of a fort had been spiked. 
A sloop owned by John Hancock had been seized by the revenue 
officers, and the officers had been frightened away by a mob. 
The British troops in Boston, exasperated by the insults of a 
crowd of unruly men and boys, had fired into the mob, killing 
or wounding eight or ten of them. This act had increased 
excitement to rage. An English armed vessel, the Gaspee, had 
run aground on the Rhode Island coast and had been burned 




John Hancock 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN 



167 




battle of 
Lexington - 
April 19, 
1775 



by a party of men from Providence. Here and there, revenue 
officers had been roughly handled, one of them receiving a coat 
of tar and feathers. 

To arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams, and to seize 212. The 
some military stores the committee had collected at Lexing 
ton and Concord, 
Gage despatched 
a column of 
troops under 
Colonel Smith 
and Major Pit- 
cairn, on the 
night of April 18, 
1775. But the 
patriots had dis- 
covered the 
movement, and 
two swift mes- 
sengers, Paul Re- 
vere and William 
Dawes, rode out 
of Boston at mid- 
night to give "the alarm through every Middlesex village 
and farm." By the time the British reached Lexington, the 
"chief traitors" had made their escape, and the minute-men 
had rallied to defeat the purpose of the British. Pitcairn 
ordered the rebels to disperse, and firing began on both sides. 
Eight of the minute-men were killed, and some of the troops 
were wounded. 

Pitcairn then marched his force to Concord and destroyed 
all stores that had not been removed by the Americans. But 
the few minute-men who had run away from Pitcairn 's regulars 
had not intended to yield the day. At Concord bridge the 
patriots began to assemble in such numbers that Pitcairn ordered 
a retreat to Boston. But for a reenforcement with cannon, the 
column would have been annihilated by the farmers. The 



The Boston Massacre 
From an engraving by Paul Revere 



1 68 CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION 

British lost nearly three hundred men. "War was inevitable." 
An army of 16,000 men soon assembled around Boston. 

SUMMARY 

The American colonies having for a century and a half developed almost 
independently, their Revolution was a natural consequence of great diver- 
gence from the mother country in ideals, policies, and interests. From the 
beginning of colonial life ultimate union and independence were inevitable 
unless there should be such development in the mother country as would 
necessitate hearty recognition of equality and of individual rights. Long 
years of common hardships, struggles with hostile neighbors, remoteness 
from Europe, growing power of self-support, — these and other influences 
were gradually welding the colonies together and creating a consciousness 
of common interests. In a word, all unknown to themselves perhaps, they 
were becoming a nation; and the assertion of nationality and of its corol- 
lary, independence, must certainly follow. The navigation laws, the debts 
from the P'rench and Indian war, the stamp act, the writs of assistance, 
the Boston Port Bill, the Townshend duties, the burning of the Gaspee, 
the energetic leadership of Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry — all these 
are but movements of the fundamental Cause. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. When and where were the seeds of the Revolution sown? 2. In what sense 
was the French and Indian, or Seven Years' war, a preparation for the American 
Revolution? 3. What was .\merica's view of the obligations entailed by that war? 
4. Show England's viewix)int. 5. When was separation first talked of? 6. What 
three general purposes did the Parliament have during and after Lord Grenville's 
administration? 7. In what three ways, in general, did the colonists assist England? 
8. Did the colonists regard the navigation laws as tax laws? 9. What is internal 
taxation? 10. Did the American subjects have all the rights of Englishmen? 
II. Were charters granted by kings or by parliament : which? What effect would 
this question have on parliament's rights to tax the colonies? 12. Trace England's 
efforts to subdue the colonists and enforce her laws. 13. Show how the colonists 
endeavored to resist. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

RFFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Fiske, American Revolution; Wilson, American 
People, vol. ii.; Roosevelt, Winning of the West; Van Tyne, American Revolution; 
Hart, Formation of the Union. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. ii; MacDonald, Select 
Documents; American History Leaflets, No. 5. 

Illustrative Material. — Longfellow, Ride of Paul Revere; Lanier, Battle of 
Lexington; Bartlett, Concord Fight; Bryant, '76; The Boston Tea Party and Battle 
of Trenton in Ford's Poems of History. 

SEPARATION AND AUTONOMY 
In the war which she had begun, Great Britain would find 213. The 
both advantage and difficulty in the geographical conditions of to invasion 
the country which she had undertaken to subdue. The coast 
line, indented with harbors, and with rivers flowing into the sea 
at convenient intervals, at first offered to a powerful navy little 
resistance beyond that of inertia, which condition, however, 
might prove distinctly embarrassing from the fact that it was 
temporary and therefore invited a naval commander to possible 
destruction through necessity for his acting with extreme haste 
in seizing important towns on the seaboard. But in holding 
even Boston, the storm center of insurgency, the British power 
was already largely occupied; and, in the end, events proved 
that while the coast towns might be taken, their capture would 
cost more than the results were worth; for the strength of the 
American colonies was not in the cities, but in the rural regions, 
where every man and boy knew every stream and mountain, 
and no column of British ever left the coast and marched into the 
interior without sooner or later coming to grief. It is true that 
in the South, toward the close of the war, the British held much 
territory; in that quarter, for various reasons, the people were 



lyo THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

more divided in sentiment, and the invaders found there more 
sympathy and more of active assistance. Yet the South itself 
proved to be the grave of British hopes. 

214. The As to comparative resources, the disparity of course was 

t W O D C O d1 6 S 

and their enormously in favor of the British. Population, experience in 
sentiment war, disciplined troops, financial ability that could satisfy the 
foreign princes who, for pay, sent their soldiers to fight and die 
in a cause for which they felt no interest, everything, viewed 
superficially, seemed to point to British success. The colonies 
had no money and no financial system. In the nature of the 
case they had no credit. Their government, hardly deserving 
the name, was a makeshift, tolerated because of temporary 
necessity, a government without power to collect taxes, a 
government depending upon the will of thirteen other govern- 
ments which had some actual power and frequently exercised it 
to the disadvantage of the common cause. The population of 
three millions, not one third that of Great Britain, included 
half a million negro slaves and half a million people who were 
loyal to the king. The loyalists, or Tories, more numerous in 
the South, because that section had not suffered as much as 
New England at the hands of the king and parliament, were 
in every colony; in many instances they furnished supplies to 
the British and otherwise gave them active assistance. Yet 
Britain's people also were divided as to the justice of the war 
on the colonies, and the division grew more marked as the war 
continued. Although men like Pitt, Fox, and Burke and their 
followers expressed sympathy for America, even early in the 
conflict, the majority of the English people had not realized 
that America was fighting for the rights and liberties of the 
world, including Englishmen. They upheld the king and his 
ministers in "distressing America," and it was only after the 
surrender of Burgoyne that there was, in England, significant 
opposition to the war in America. 

215. Miii- The greatest number of American troops in the field at any 
contrasted °"^ ^^^^ ^^^ 3SP°° "^^n, divided into continentals, state 

militia, and volunteers. The latter classes were mustered 



SEPARATION AND AUTONOMY 



171 



into service as the state in which these soldiers resided was 
invaded, and were mustered out, or rather they quit the army 
and went home, when the danger to their state had passed. 

If Great Britain had beUeved it to be necessary she could have 216. Cap- 
put 300,000 disciplined men into the field at the beginning of t^red forts 
the war, but, fortunately for the colonies, she did not realize 
the extent of the sentiment of Revolution until 1778, and 
by that time necessity for meeting other demands upon her 
military resources reduced her ability to keep up her armies 
in America. She 
had, for the 
times, a power- 
ful navy which 
she could send 
against the few 
merchantmen 
converted into 
American men- 
of-war. 

The colonial 
army before Bos- 
ton faced a very 
serious condition 
through lack of 
munitions — gun- 
powder and heavy artillery being sadly deficient — and it was 
not until the winter of 1776 that partial relief was brought 
from Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. John's, which had 
been captured in May by volunteers under Ethan Allen, Ben- 
edict Arnold, and Seth Warner. The stores and guns cap- 
tured in these forts were hauled to Boston on sledges over the 
frozen snow in the dead of winter, to be used by Washington 
in the spring of 1776. 

On the day that Ethan Allen and his men chased the flee- 
ing guard, in hot haste, into the fort at Ticonderoga, May 10, 
1775, and demanded the surrender of the fort in the "name of 




Ruins. OF Fort Ticonderoga, 



172 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," the Second 
Continental Congress was assembling in Philadelphia. This 
body, forced by the exigencies of the times, gradually but 
rapidly assumed both legislative and executive functions for the 
entire country that was in revolt against Great Britain. Many 
important matters of a general nature imperatively demanded 
attention, and there was no other organization that could be 
employed. Questions of authority gave way rapidly to ques- 
tions of expediency and necessity. The result was the assump- 
tion of powers necessary to wage a successful war in the name 
of all the colonies. The first great necessities were a commander 
for the force already in the field, the increase of that force in 
numbers and efficiency, *ind its development into an organized 
federal army. Congress assumed control of the conditions and, 
upon motion of John Adams of Massachusetts, selected George 
Washington of Virginia to be commander-in-chief. It advised 
and urged the colonies to arm their militia. On July 6 it re- 
solved "that we have taken arms against violence and we shall 
lay them down when hostilities cease on the part of the aggressor; 
our cause is just; our union perfect." 

Congress issued calls for troops and recommended that each 
state furnish its quota, but it could not compel compliance with 
its recommendations or orders, and the old colonial jealousy 
hindered prompt responses. Besides this handicap, Washington 
was further embarrassed, at times, by the failure of congress to 
grant his urgent requests because the members could not agree. 
The committees appointed by congress to supervise the branches 
of the military service frequently failed to get the correct point 
of view and to comply with the demands of the general, which 
at times necessity made imperative. On the whole, howe^'e^, 
the committees were helpful both to congress and to Washing- 
ton. "Committees of Correspondence" were appointed in the 
states to gather and furnish information. 

Whenever a royal governor left his colony for any cause, the 
congress advised and urged the people to organize a state 
government modeled after the charter. In the absence of such 



SEPARATION AND AUTONOMY 



173 



a model, they were urged to form a government best suited to 
their needs. Nevertheless, the congress continued for a time 
to place common grievances before the king ; after independence 
was declared, it appointed ambassadors and sent representatives 
to foreign courts except, of course, the court of Great Britain; 
it devised a crude postal system to be administered by com- 
mittees; it negotiated 




loans and issued conti- 
nental money; it prohib- 
ited the slave trade, 
mediated between states 
on boundary line disputes, 
and appointed prize 
courts to decide in cases 
of seizure and captures on 
the high seas, and other 
maritime questions. 

The purpose to separate 
from the mother country, 
vague and weak even 
after the contest had be- 
gun and congress had 
taken charge of affairs, 
grew rapidly in definite- 
ness and in strength as 
Great Britain's obduracy 
became apparent. A rep- 
resentative and not a 
primary body, congress 
could not proceed without 
authority from the vari- Monxtment to the Signers of the 
ous colonies. Although Mecklenburg Declaration at Char- 
colonial action had been 



^■aiTBt;! 



218. Move- 
ments to- 
ward inde- 
pendence 



lotte, N. C. 



outside of British warrant ever since the fight at Lexing- 
ton and Concord, yet separation had been assumed, not 
declared. The convention in Mecklenburg county. North 



174 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 




Carolina, on May 20, 1775, gave expression to thoughts that 
were in many minds, and it contributed to making clear the 
trend of events and to giving impetus to the general movement 
tov.'ard independence. In fact it was a virtual declaration of 
independence by a small group of people. 

Samuel Adams had seen and declared as early as 1768 that 
separation from Great Britain was the inevitable end of move- 
ments then apparent. The 
conservatives believed that 
Adams was a mere agitator, an 
extremist, and a fanatic. In 
1775 Patrick Henry, in the 
house of burgesses in Virginia, 
electrified a continent with wild 
words that have never lost their 
charm. In March of the same 
year, Benjamin Franklin, who 
• ^ had represented several colo- 
nies abroad, returned to the 
continent, believing that noth- 
ing more could be done through 
diplomacy. 
When two assaults by British regulars under Howe had been 
repulsed by the raw American troops, and the third at last 
had succeeded because the militia had no more powder, Great 
Britain and the world knew that the Americans could fight, 
and that they were ready to lay down their hves in defense of 
their country, which, after that time, meant America. 
219. Bunker Although congress had declared by resolution, July 6, 1775, 
HiU; Peti- ^_Y\at hostilities must first close on the part of the aggressor, 

tioning the . , . i 

king— 1775 and the battle of Bunker Hill had smce been fought, peace was 
again urged through John Dickinson in the petition to the king 
to repeal "such statutes as more immediately distress your 
Majesty's colonies." The king deigned to answer the petition 
by declaring that the colonies were in open and armed rebellion, 
and "by sending armies, fleets, and hired myrmidons." 



^^ 



1 -. 



Ben'jamin Franklin 



SEPARATION AND AUTONOMY 



175 



In January, 1776, the delegates from Massachusetts were 220. Inde- 

instructed to vote for separate independence. In March pendence 

. . . declared 

South CaroUna had adopted a constitution and had organized 

a complete government. In April the North Carolma legisla- 
ture had empowered its delegates in congress to vote for inde- 
pendence. Georgia took the same action in the same month. 
New Hampshire went a step farther 
and empowered her delegates to pro- 
pose independence and a union into 
one republic. In May a convention 
in Virginia requested the delegates 
to the congress to propose independ- 
ence, and in June the Virginia con- 
vention adopted a state constitution 
and created a state government. 

On June 7 Richard Henry Lee of 
Virginia offered in Congress a reso- 
lution that "these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be. Inde- 
pendent States." The resolution 
was referred to a committee which 

was honored with the duty of preparing a Declaration. Mean- 
time, the delegates in congress were diligently consulting the 
people at home, and by the time the committee reported it 
had become evident that the desire in the states for separation 
was practically universal. 

On the second of July the Resolution was passed, and on the 
fourth the document prepared by the committee was accepted 
and formally enacted into law. On August 2 it received the 
signatures of the members present in congress. 

There have been very many dissertations upon the literary 
merits of the Declaration, and much criticism has been aimed 
at its apparent lack of originality. Jefferson, its author, said 
he had not regarded it his duty to be original. The fact is 
that originality, either in expression or in idea, would have 
been monstrously out of place. The document simply embodies 




Richard Henry Lee 



176 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

the spirit of the time; it is not Jefferson, or Franklin, but the 
People, speaking through their mouthpiece. Yet the Declara- 
tion, simple in form, possesses a content which is more than 
mere, assertion of independence of Great Britain's government. 
The great meaning beyond the documentary words is a closer 
union of the states in order to effect the well-being of each. 
After the Declaration of Independence there was no middle 

r-' |> • (1/ . ,rw r /■ , .| <,^ f i'.tif n rrrM^,..;»i jj .ii 

V/KmA c/tn^M-t fhj.m.'to T»|« iitn iim ^</><bTA^U^m. 

„ o > y/< g.jt^*v<,..c^ r/.'~i£...<t,,.„,t^, o-Tw^^^^.,^ <! i i | ,. y f r t ^"i.v ■ ■ »/ > « ■ j n < ? 

Facsimile of the First Two Paragraphs of the 
Declaration of Independence 

In the writing of Jefferson 

ground. Each man must choose whom he would serve. The 
united colonies were no longer British dependencies, but a 
country lighting a foreign invader. 

WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGNS: 1775-1777 
221. Boston In the meantime, on July 3, 1775, Washington had taken 
Washington charge, at Cambridge, of the body of loosely organized, undis- 
at New ciplined troops, most of whom were from a section of the country 
or —1776 (jista^nj- from his home, and had begun the difficult task of reduc- 
ing it to a disciplined American army. In the autumn he 
sent General Montgomery and Benedict Arnold against Canada. 



WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGNS: 1775-1777 177 



The expedition was a failure. Montgomery was killed, and 
Arnold, after gallant and distinguished service, was severely 
wounded at Quebec. The remnant of this expedition was res- 
cued in the following spring. In March, 1776, Washington 
seized Dorchester Heights, which gave him command of Boston 
and of the shipping in the harbor. Howe, who had succeeded 
Gage in command of Boston, then sailed away to Halifax. 

Well aware that the Hudson river offered the British a line 
of advance by which they might cut the colonies into two 
divisions, Washington transferred the 
greater part of his army to New York City 
in May and prepared for defense. 

Meanwhile, Arnold was cooperating with 
Schuyler and Gales in an effort to drive 
back the British who were advancing from 
Canada under General Carleton. In Octo- 
ber Carleton gained a victory on Lake 
Champlain, and the Americans retreated 
to Ticonderoga, from which position the 
British general decided it wo\ild be useless 
to try to dislodge them on account of the 
lateness of the season, and he returned to 
Canada, making it possible for Schuyler to 
spare a part of his army to reenforce 
Washington in New York. 

On June 29 the reenforced fleet from Halifax appeared in 222. Long 

the lower bay, bringing General Howe with 15,000 troops I^'^'l^.' 

from Boston. A month later Admiral Howe, brother of the ton's retreat 

general, arrived from England and General Clinton returned ^J^^°^^ ^^^ 

from the expedition against Charleston (232). Washington Trenton — 

soon saw that the British so far outnumbered his little army 1^7^' ^ 

•' Pnnceton — 

that it would be worse than useless to give battle at New York. 1777 
With great skill he withdrew in safety after an unfortunate 
combat on Long Island, and took position on the east side of 
the Hudson about thirty miles up the river. 

Forts Washington and Lee, on opposite sides of the Hudson 




A Continental 
Soldier 

After the picture by 
Chappel 



178 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

just above New York, fell into Howe's hands with three 
thousand prisoners of war. Anticipating a movement against 
Philadelphia, Washington, on November 12, 1776, divided his 
army, leaving a part under General Charles Lee,^ east of the 
Hudson; with the other division he crossed the Hudson and 
retired toward Philadelphia, closely followed by Cornwallis. 
General Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British in Amer- 
ica, endeavored to create loyalist sentiment, offering pardon 
to all who would desert the Americans and return to their 
old allegiance. His proclamation encouraged the Tories and 
caused desertions from Washington's army. When the little 
American army crossed to the west side of the Delaware, its 
pursuers found no boats. Lee's division, under Sullivan, had 
reenforced Washington. On December 12, congress, fleeing 
before the British army, left Philadelphia to meet again in Bal- 
timore on December 20. The country was in despair. Wash- 
ington wrote to his brother: "If every nerve is not strained to 
recruit the army with all possible expedition, I think the game 
pretty nearly up." Yet the British went into quarters along 
the Delaware, waiting for the riVer to freeze; then they would 
march over Washington's army into Philadelphia. 

But Washington had been driven to the limit. "Neces- 
sity," he writes, "justifies an attack." He crossed the Dela- 
ware on Christmas night, surprised and captured a thousand 
Hessians in camp at Trenton, fell back to the west side of the 
Delaware with his prisoners, sent them into the interior, and 
recrossed to Trenton on December 29, where he took position 
between the detachments of the British army. Cornwallis, 
charged by Howe with the task of destroying Washington, 
found himself out-maneuvered at Princeton (January 3, 1777), 

' The General Charles Lee here mentioned was not a member of the distinguished 
Lee family of Virginia, famous later in the history of their countrj-. He had been 
ordered repeatedly to leave his camp east of the Hudson and rejoin Washington 
in New Jersey. Finally, on December 4, he crossed the Hudson and took up his 
march leisurely to Vealtown, reaching that town on December 12. Taking quar- 
ters at a tavern several miles from the camp of his army, he was captured the next 
day by the British, who learned of his carelessness and his exposure through a Tory. 
Exchanged in the spring of 1778, he returned to service under Washington. 



!^5S^^5^^s^^^^^s^ss^s5^ss555s^5^^;^^^^ 




—^Kichmond v^ ^ j T^t^ 



REFERENCE MAP FOR THE REVOLUTION 
NORTHERN AND MIDDLE STATES. 



THE HUDSON RIVER CAMPAIGN: 1777 179 



where Washington gained a signal success. Washington then 
marched to Morristown and went into winter quarters. The 
British detachments in New Jersey fell back to New York and, 
as they went, the farmers "pulled down the red rags from 
their doors" and shouted for independence at sight of the first 
continental soldier. 

THE HUDSON RIVER CAMPAIGN: 1777 

When Washington withdrew from Long Island he left the 223. Bur- 
British under Howe in possession of New York, while hesoyne's ad- 

^ vance; his 

retreated before CornwaUis through New Jersey to protect difficulties; 

Philadelphia. The British now determined » Bennington 

to renew their efforts to divide the colonies 
by seizing control of the strategic line of 
the Hudson river. 

Three armies converging toward Albany, 
one from Canada by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, one down the Mohawk from Lake 
Ontario, and one ascending the Hudson, 
encouraged and supported by the many 
Tories of the country, might easily conquer First Flag of the 
the state of New York and restore it to United States 

the British crown. Burgoyne should ad- Adopted by Congress 

in 1777 
vance from Canada by Lake Champlain, 

Lake George, and the Hudson. St. Leger should advance 
from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk river, and Howe should 
ascend the Hudson from New York. The plan was good, but 
the difficulties were greater than the British could overcome. 
By a grievous fault of generalship, natural difficulties had 
been largely ignored, and the strength of the enemy both as to 
military skill and fighting quality had been underrated. The 
almost impassable roads, which caused such slow advance that 
Washington had time to concentrate the northern detachments 
and so reenforce them that a respectable army under Schuyler 
stood in Burgoyne's path; the obstacles, which made communi- 
cation well-nigh impossible and at the same time rendered the 




i8o 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



224. Sur- 
render of 
Burgoyne; 
Oriskany; 
the river 
forts 



movements of supply trains slow and indeed hazardous — every- 
thing, seemed to tell against the British from the time they left 
the lakes. The Americans were too strong to be easily crushed. 
Washington was at Morristown, Putnam was at Peekskill, 
and Schuyler at Albany. They knew the country and could 
easily communicate with one another. And the greatest Ameri- 
can general had determined that Howe should not succeed in 
making a junction with Burgoyne; and without Howe's help, 
Burgoyne was doomed from the beginning. In the early sum- 
mer of 1777 Burgoyne moved south from Quebec and easily 
captured Crown Point and Ticonderoga over on Lake Cham- 
plain. But when he left the highway of the lakes and plunged 
into the interior forests his troubles began. The Americans 
under Schuyler retarded his advance, while they waited for 
reenforcements sent by Washington. As Burgoyne approached 
Fort Edward, late in July, the Americans, greatly outnumbered, 
retired. The Tories informed him that at Bennington there 
was a depot of supplies collected by the Americans. Colonel 
Baum was sent to. capture the place but failed, with the loss of 
the entire column. In a terrible combat the American militia- 
men stormed the entrenchments of the Hessians, and the rest 
of them surrendered to General Stark. Burgoyne's situation 
was now desperate. He had heard that St. Leger had been 
defeated in the west. He probably should have tried to save 
his army by retreating to Lake George, but he hoped that the 
column from New York would very soon cause such a diversion 
in his favor as to enable him to press forward. He halted at 
Stillwater and began to fortify his position. 

Congress unwisely superseded Schuyler with Gates, but even 
that performance could not now save Burgoyne's army, which 
was thinking only of defending itself in the midst of gathering 
enemies. Burgoyne threw up intrenchments; they were stormed 
by Arnold; while Morgan's riflemen quietly picked ofif com- 
manders. Still Burgoyne held out, hoping to the last for the 
strangely delayed column from New York. The surrender 
took place on October 17. By the terms of the convention 



THE PHILADELPHIA CAMPAIGN: 1777-1778 181 

the soldiers were to be sent to Europe on condition that they 
should not serve again in the war against the United States. 
But congress charged that the British had violated the agree- 
ment in retaining surrendered property, and refused to abide 
by the terms. The prisoners were marched to Charlottesville, 
Virginia, and many of them became citizens of America. 

Meantime Fort StanwLx was being besieged by St. Leger 
and his Indian allies. General Herkimer, in command of the 
militia of Tryon county, advanced to relieve the fort, and, in 
the bloody battle of Oriskany, was mortally wounded; but the 
British and Indians gave up the field. In this instance they 
were greatly disappointed in the Tory aid, comfort, and support 
that they expected. St. Leger's division retreated before the 
approach of Arnold a few days later. 

Early in October, 1777, General Clinton, in command at 
New York, moved up the Hudson and captured Fort Mont- 
gomery and Fort Clmton, but was too weak to extend help to 
Burgoyne. 

THE PHILADELPHIA CAMPAIGN: 1777-1778 

While Burgoyne was still on Lake Champlain, General Howe, 225. Battles 

the commander-in-chief of the British army in America, under- °f Brandy- 

•^ , . wine and 

took to march across New Jersey on his way to Philadelphia. German- 
Washington opposed with such skill that Howe gave up his^°^° 
purpose and decided to advance by another route. 

Leaving Clinton in command of New York, Howe embarked 
his army in July, and nine days after the disaster at Bennington 
and three days after St. Leger's flight landed at the head of 
Chesapeake bay and began his march of seventy miles to Phil- 
adelphia. Washington threw his army in front of the British 
at Brandywane creek (September 11), believing that for the 
moral effect upon his troops he ought to risk a battle rather 
than yield Philadelphia without a struggle. The Americans 
lost, and the British entered Philadelphia on September 26. 

The British went into camp at Germantown, a few miles 
from Philadelphia, and Washington attacked them there. The 



i82 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

battle favored the Americans at first and it seemed that victory 

was sure, but owing to a dense fog one American battalion 

fired into another and a panic ensued, which lasted until all 

hope of victory had vanished. Washington had exposed his 

person to the hottest fire, and felt that his army had won the 

day and then lost it unaccountably. The British went into 

winter quarters in and around Philadelphia, and Washington's 

army built huts at Valley Forge, twenty miles away. 

226. Valley The devotion and fortitude of the little American army, 

Forge; the enduring an intensity of suffering in "the time that tried men's 

Conway in- ° ■' . . 

trigue souls," have become proverbial m the history of America, 

acknowledged examples of heroic quality with which to stir 
hearts and strengthen arms to resist oppression. Perhaps no 
greater devotion to country was ever exhibited. It developed 
later that at least a part of the extreme suffering was due to 
a lack of organization in the commissary department, for it is 
now a matter of common knowledge that there were quantities 
of shoes, clothing, and food side-tracked in transit for lack of 
money to pay teamsters for delivering supplies to the destitute 
army. 

Add to this the fact that there were intrigues in congress 
to humiliate and degrade the commander-in-chief upon whose 
mind and heart rested the full consciousness not only of the 
suffering of the men under his command, but the welfare of the 
English speaking world. If strength or courage had failed him 
the history of the human race would have been written in a 
minor key from that day to this. Yet the vermin of politics 
were at work in the congress to embarrass and even displace 
Washington with a soldier who fought mainly in the field of 
politics. Conway, who had steered the "cabal," and Horatio 
Gates, who was to profit by it, made the winter of 1777-1778 
hard indeed to bear. But out of it all came a clear light and 
a brighter hope. Washington became almost absolute in the 
affairs of the war after that date, while the heroism of the army 
won confidence abroad. Baron Steuben, who had joined Wash- 
ington's army, brought it to a high state of efficiency by his 



THE PHILADELPHIA CAMPAIGN: 1 777-1 778 183. 




patience and skill in teaching discipline. American patriotism 
will always cherish the names of DeKalb, Kosciusko, Pulaski, 
Rochambeau, and Lafayette. 

After the congress fled from Philadelphia, the Articles of 227. Articles 
Confederation were adopted, and thus a long step was taken °^^^.°^ .® " 
toward ultimate victory and in- 
dependence. Early in 17 78 the 
colonies made an alliance with 
France which aided very 
greatly in the final outcome of 
the struggle. France entered 
this alliance, not through senti- 
ment or from sympathy, but 
with the view of promoting her 
own welfare. A young nation 
that could sustain a war with 
Great Britain for three years 
and compel the surrender of an 
army was worthy of encourage- 
ment and would make a valuable ally. The taking of Burgoyne 
at Saratoga, Washington's brilliant maneuvers before Howe in 
New York, and the sublime devotion of Valley Forge chal- 
lenged the admiration of the world and made sure the alliance 
with France, England's veteran enemy. Aid had been given 
secretly; it now came freely and openly. In that year (1778) 
the colonies agreed, by treaty with France, in return for armed 
support, that they would continue the war until they won inde- 
pendence, and that they would not conclude a treaty of peace 
without the concurrence of France. By a special article, it 
was agreed that Spain might enter the alliance at the earliest 
convenience. The treaty with France was not universally 
popular. Some feared an alliance with a Catholic nation, 
and preferred England to France if a choice of masters must 
be made. It was specially distasteful to New England, where 
Frenchmen who had led Indian raids were still the ghosts of 
nightly dreams. 



Marquis de Lafayette 



1 84 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

228. Great Lord North, the prime minister of Great Britain, now turned 
^ff *^t^ ^ ^ political somersault and proposed to renounce the right to 
treat— 1778 tax the colonies. After much opposition the bill to appoint 

commissioners to treat for peace with the colonies passed par- 
liament, March 11, 1778. The proposal came just two years 
too late. The colonies were now unwilling to consider a contin- 
uation of the old relations on any terms. England's only hope 
lay in again calling to power the ministry of William Pitt, 
Earl of Chatham, and in following Pitt's policy of withdrawing 
British troops from American soil and joining America in an 
alliance against France and Spain, but such action would be a 
virtual recognition of American independence, and George III 
refused to have more of Pitt. A few weeks after the colonies 
and France had formed an alliance, England declared war on 
France. Then Spain, in the next year, hoping to take back 
Gibraltar from England, added her forces to those of France, 
her ally. In 1780 Holland, England's old commercial rival, 
joined the alliance. Also in 1780 Frederick the Great opened 
his ports to American vessels and refused to allow Hessian 
troops bound for British service against the colonies to pass 
through his territory. 

229. Evacu- The French alliance bore fruit immediately. France sent a 
Phiiadel- ^^^^ ^*^ America under Count D'Estaing. In anticipation of 
phia; battle its approach. Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Howe in 
mouth command at Philadelphia, evacuated the town June, 1778, and 

marched for New York for fear that city might not be strong 
enough to resist the combined French and Americans. 

There was great rejoicing when Clinton left Philadelphia. 
Washington pursued Clinton toward New York with an army 
greatly improved in spirit, discipline, and power. He over- 
took the British at Monmouth and fought a drawn battle, which 
might have been a victory for the Americans but for the mysteri- 
ous conduct of General Charles Lee in ordering a retreat which 
seemed unnecessary. Washington countermanded Lee's order 
and stopped the retreat, but too late to win the day. The 
British, during the night, continued their march toward New 



THE PHILADELPHIA CAMPAIGN: 1777-1778 185 



York. Lee was tried by a court-martial and suspended from 
command, and at length was dismissed from the army. 

Count D'Estaing arrived in America with a French fleet of 230. Stony 
eighteen ships and an army of 4000 men, but the fleet was^^^^j^,^ 
damaged by a storm and put into Boston harbor for repairs treason 
before it could render service. The British made no further 
general movement in 1778, but contented themselves with 
encouraging their Indian allies to commit atrocities on exposed 
villages and towns. In the North, from the battle of Mon- 
mouth until the close of the war there was little military activ- 
ity, owing to Clinton's inability to 
undertake two aggressive campaigns 
at the same time, the South de- 
manding whatever reenforcements 
he could spare from the defense of 
New York, where Washington was 
confronting him. But there was a 
deed of a great and gallant soul, 
and another deed, that of a traitor, 
both of which will live forever in 
American annals. On July 15, 
1779, General Wayne stormed 
Stony Point, a British fortress on 
the Hudson, and at the point of 
the bayonet forced the surrender of 
the garrison. The other deed was 

the treasonable correspondence of Benedict Arnold, command- 
ing at West Point, in which he arranged to deliver the fortress 
to the British for a sum of money and a commission in the army 
of those he had fought as enemies. The execution of Major 
Andre, the British spy who visited Arnold, was justified by all 
the rules of war; Arnold fled, knowing full well his fate if he 
should fall into the hands of the soldiers who were fighting for 
liberty. 

When the war began the colonies had no navy and congress 
had no authority to build one. Merchant ships were fitted out 




Anthony Wayne 



1 86 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

231. The as privateers and sent to prey on British commerce. Before 
Ameri(^n j^_g ^^^^ ^^^ captured more than six hundred British ships, 
Jones and the British had destroyed more than nine hundred Ameri- 
can vessels. The fisheries of Newfoundland, as well as com- 
merce, had suffered severely. In 1777 Lambert Wickes took 
an American ship across the ocean, Gustavus Cunningham 
damaged British ships in the North Sea, British Channel 
insurance rose to ten per cent for a single voyage, and merchant- 
men were accompanied by men-of-war. Paul Jones, with a 
fleet of five ships fitted out in France, boldly attacked English 
vessels off the coast of England. The Boii Ilommc Richard 
gained a notable victory over the Serapis September 23, 1779. 
The effect of these engagements on the sea increased foreign 
interest in American affairs, while the presence of the American 
flag in foreign waters had an immense moral effect in teach- 
ing men and governments to look upon the United Colonies as 
a nation. 

THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 

232. Fort In 1776 an expedition under General Henry Clinton sailed 
on°Sum- ^'"^"^ Boston for New York and farther southward. Clinton 
van's Island threatened Norfolk for a time, and then continued his way to 
~^^^ North Carolina with the purpose of restoring the royal author- 
ity in that state; but he learned that the Tories had been 
defeated in battle at Moore's Creek; and being reenforced 
by a fleet from England, under Admiral Peter Parker, a com- 
bined land and naval attack was planned upon Charleston. 
On June i the infantry made a landing on Long Island, 
and batteries were erected. The harbor entrance was de- 
fended by Fort Sullivan, a rude crib-work of palmetto logs 
filled with sand from the beach; it mounted thirty cannon, 
and was under Colonel William Moultrie with a force of about 
three hundred militia who had never seen a skirmish except 
with Indians. The British fleet at length moved up to reduce 
the fort; but it proved strong, and the militia proved good 
gunners; the balls from the fleet sunk into the soft palmetto 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 



187 




without splintering, while the Americans deliberately disabled 

each ship as it came within range. Clinton's forces quickly 

reembarked, and the crippled fleet sailed for New York.^ 

On November 3, 1778, Count D'Estaing, commanding a 233. Savan- 

French fleet, sailed from Boston for the West Indies; soon after °*^^**^^° 
' . 'by the 

this event General Clinton g British — 

sent a force of 3000 men '* "" '■^ ''~~—~ ^778 

under Colonel Campbell, 
with a fleet commanded 
by Admiral Hyde Parker, 
for the purpose of making 
a lodgment in the Southern 
colonies, which had been 
untouched by war since 
the battle of Fort Moul- 
trie. The troops landed 
near Savannah and suc- 
ceeded in taking the town 

after very easily defeating the little army of 1500 Americans 
under General Robert Howe, who retired into South Carolina. 
The British troops in East Florida, under General Prevost, 
were ordered to reenforce Campbell in Georgia. 

The British continued to strengthen their forces at Savannah 
by proceeding to subdue the country, some of their skilled ofl&- 
cers being appointed to command bodies of loyalists received 
into the royal service. The succeeding war in the states of 
Georgia and South Carolina was a civil war, as much so, per- 
haps, as it was war with a foreign power. Colonel Boyd, who 
was killed at Kettle Creek, Georgia, was in command of a body 
of Tories, while Colonel Pickens, who defeated him, was in com- 
mand of American partisans. Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton 
was a Tory in command of a North Carolina regiment under 
CornwaUis, and, according to General Henry Lee, "attracted 
universal esteem." Colonel Ferguson, killed at King's Moun- 



Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie 



^ The fort has ever since been known as Fort Moultrie, in honor of its com- 
mander. It became an important post in the Civil War. 



i88 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

tain, was a leader of Tories and a remarkable soldier. Camp- 
bell's conduct toward the inhabitants of Savannah is described 
as peculiarly kind and amiable. And General Prevost, coming 
from Florida to take command of the British, continued Camp- 
bell's policy of kindness and reaped his reward. 

234. The General Prevost sent a detachment under Colonel Campbell 

Tones de- ^^ occupv AusTusta, from which point Lieutenant-Colonel 

feated in ^ -^ ° , . , . ^ . 

Georgia— Hamilton, m command of his Tory regiment, advanced west- 

^"^"^^ ward, gaining recruits and crushing all resistance. A body of 

seven hundred Tories under Colonel Boyd was defeated by 
Pickens at Kettle creek, and only three hundred of them suc- 
ceeded in reaching Augusta. This was the first success gained 
bv the patriots since the British began the campaign. 

235. Lincoln South Carolina and Georgia delegates in congress urged a 

m com- change of commanders in the South, and General Lincoln was 
mand; Ashe " . ,,..., 

defeated in named to supersede Howe. Lincoln succeeded in uniting the 

Georgia; American forces, and took position near Savannah on the north 
Rutledge '■ .... 

side of the river. His force was inferior, but Prevost s army 

was now in several detachments. Prevost lost almost the 
whole of one detachment, which was routed by General Moul- 
trie at Port Royal. But General Ashe, with 1500 men, detached 
to operate near Augusta, was surprised at Brier Creek by the 
British and a great part of his force made prisoners. This 
victory relieved all Prevost's fears concerning Georgia, and he 
proclaimed the reestablishment of the royal government in that 
state. It looked as though the South was lost to the cause of 
independence. But in this trying hour the legislature of South 
Carolina invested the governor, John Rutledge, with dictato- 
rial powers, and through his vigorous measures the militia in 
large numbers were enrolled to defend the state. 

236. Lincoln At Augusta, now unoccupied by the British, the Georgia 

and Prevost legislature was to meet ; and to protect it General Lincoln ad- 
maneuver; . 1 1 1 1 f r 
Rutledge vanced toward the town with his main body, but left a force 

proposes ^f jqqq j^gj^ Under Moultrie to defend the road from Savannah 
neutrality ^, , -r^ , . 1 1 • 

to Charleston. Prevost met this movement by advancing 

toward Charleston in the hope that Lincoln would countermarch 




REFERENCE MAP FOR THE REVOLUTION 
SOUTHERN STATES 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 



189 



for the defense of that city. Moultrie fell back, sending mes- 
sengers every day to Lincoln, who kept to his original purpose. 
Then Prevost, finding it too late to advance and contest Lin- 
coln's march, determined to capture Charleston, now that his 
adversary could not defend it. But Governor Rutledge, and 
Moultrie also, threw themselves and their weak forces into the 
city and made it strong with intrenchments. "Masters and 




The Siege of Charleston 
After the picture by Chappel 



servants, boys and girls, mixed in the honorable work of self- 
defence." Still, the condition of the town was desperate, and 
when Prevost appeared and demanded its surrender, offering 
favorable terms, the defence adroitly gained a day in discussion 
before the demand was rejected; and it was at this time that 
Governor Rutledge proposed that the city and the state be bound 
by a pledge of neutrality in the further contest between Great 
Britain and America. Prevost retired without delivering an 
assault, knowing full well that Lincoln would be upon his back 
as fast as forced marches could bring him. The British marched 
southward; and after a partial engagement at Stono, withdrew 
into Georgia. 



IQO 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



237. Ameri 
cans 

repulsed at 
Savannah 



238. Sur- 
render of 
Charleston 
— 1780 



239. The 

British 
overrun 
South Caro 
lina; Span 
iards take 
Mobile 



Governor Rutledge, General Lincoln, and the French consul 
at Charleston united in a request to Count D'Estaing, then in 
the West Indies, to cooperate with the Americans in driving the 
British from the South. The result was the combined opera- 
tions of the French and American armies against Savannah, 
October 9, 1779, ending with an assault that was repulsed with 
great loss. Count Pulaski, an eminent Polish soldier, who, 
like Lafayette, had offered his services to America, received a 
mortal wound. The French reembarked, and the fleet sailed 
for the West Indies. 

General Henry Clinton, with Admiral Arbuthnot in command 
of the fleet, laid siege to Charleston. Lincoln with 5cx)o men 
defended the city from March 30 until May 1 2 against an army 
double his number, which was shutting him off on the land 
side, and a fleet in the harbor which was bombarding the town. 
The surrender of Charleston enabled the British in a very 
short time to overrun the whole state; and the inhabitants 
of the rural districts, seeing no hope for the American cause, 
in large numbers accepted British protection. Yet there were 
not a few brave spirits who, driven from their homes, joined the 
partisan leaders of the low country or those of the highlands in 
a seemingly hopeless resistance. 

Clinton charged Cornwallis with completing the work of con- 
quest, and Cornwallis advanced into the interior, his army in 
. three widely separate divisions which met with no resistance. 
The British fortified and garrisoned Augusta, Ninety-Sbc, and 
Camden. 

Spain was now at war with Great Britain, and though she 
did ' nothing in a direct way to assist the United States, her 
forces tended to occupy the British, and thus to lessen the full 
power which otherwise they could have brought to bear 
upon the South. Don Galvez, the Spanish commander at New 
Orleans, took Mobile with its small British garrison; and the 
operation had for result the retention of Colonel Campbell in 
Florida, thus depriving Cornwallis of this meritorious officer's 
services. 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 191 

General Clinton, soon after the fall of Charleston, had issued 240, stern 
a proclamation in which he promised protection to all the "^f ^.sures of 
people who should renew allegiance to the royal government. 
Many who had accepted the military situation as convincing 
proof of the failure of America, and for the sake of their fam- 
ilies had submitted under the terms of the proclamation, were 
now horrified to read a later proclamation in which Clinton 
announced that all who had subjected themselves to the royal 
authority were required to do all the commands of the new state; 
in other words, he notified them that they must be ready, when 
called upon, to take up arms in support of the royal authority. 
If the first proclamation had the good effect of producing an 
ostensible submission, the last document roused anger the more 
virulent because of its seeming impotency, and many, too 
helpless to escape the situation, determined upon a course of 
h^T^Docrisy, while others who would have remained quiet now 
became not only hostile but active. 

General Clinton sailed for New York, leaving to Cornwallis, 
the ablest commander on the British side during the whole 
war, the task of invading and subduing North Carolina. 

Washington had hurried toward Lincoln reenforcements241. Battle 
under General DeKalb, one of the foreign volunteers in the °^ Camden 
patriot cause, but DeKalb's force had not reached the state be- 
fore Charleston surrendered, and it now became a rallying point 
for the discomfited and a nucleus for a new Southern army, 
the command of which was committed by congress to General 
Horatio Gates without conferring with Washington. The 
battle of Camden followed, and the defeat of the Americans 
was so complete that no organization of Gates's army remained 
within the borders of the state, although the North Carolina 
line was more than fifty miles from the battlefield. The brave 
DeKalb died from eleven wounds received in the battle of 
Camden. 

Cornwallis advanced to Charlotte; he would subdue North 242. Battle 
Carolina. Wilmington would then become a base of supplies ^p^^^^^^ 
while Virginia was being reduced. His rear was protected by 



192 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



the Tories; his flanks were guarded by Tarleton, and by Fer- 
guson's forces which were thrown out toward the mountains. 
As for the United States, it was dazed by the result at Cam- 
den, where the conqueror of Burgoync had been put to rout on 
his first Southern field. 

But the Tories and the Whigs continued to fight in South 
Carolina. Sumter won success at the time Gates was defeated, 

but was himself surprised and 
routed by Tarleton two days later. 
Marion still kept the field. Colo- 
nel Ferguson, commanding 1000 
well armed Tories and British, 
marching in the northern part of 
the state, heard that a Whig force 
under Elijah Clarke had attempted 
to seize Augusta and was now 
retiring; Ferguson, therefore, 
altered his march, in the hope of 
intercepting Clarke. But now he 
heard that enemies other than 
Clarke were near him. The 
Westerners were coming down from the mountains to take 
Augusta, not knowing that Clarke had just failed in a similar 
enterprise, and, learning that Ferguson was in the country, 
turned upon him with eight hundred riflemen. But Ferguson 
himself was reputed to be the best marksman in the British 
army, if not in the world; and he knew the ways and wiles of 
border warfare as well as the best. So he took post on King's 
Mountain and dared them to come on. The Western men, led 
by many colonels, surrounded Ferguson on his height, killed 
or wounded three hundred, captured the remainder, and hanged 
some bloodthirsty Tories. Ferguson had fallen dead. 

No sooner did Cornwallis at Charlotte hear of the destruction 
of Ferguson and his corps than he abandoned his plans for a 
further advance and fell back to Winnsboro. Marion, Sumter, 
Pickens, all renewed their activity. Sumter at Blackstock 




Thomas Sumter 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 



193 



balanced accounts with Tarleton, while Marion struck a blow 
now here, now there, and leaped aside before the British could 
crush him. If the partisans saw no rest, neither did their 
enemies. 

The fragments of Gates's defeated army were being collected 
at Hillsboro, North Carolina, and Gates at length advanced 
to Charlotte; but here he received the news that congress had 
decided that a court of inquiry should examine his conduct in 
regard to the Camden battle, and 
that Washington had been re- 
quested to name his successor. 
So Gates returned to Philadel- 
phia, and General Nathanael 
Greene, succeeding to the com- 
mand of the Southern army, 
advanced into South Carolina. 
On his right, some twenty-five 
miles westward. General Daniel 
Morgan, commanding the light 
corps of the army, found himself 
confronted by Tarleton with a 
superior force. Morgan with- 
drew to Cowpens, and retired 

no further. In the battle that followed, Tarleton's infantry 
were killed or made prisoners; with his surviving cavalry he 
escaped to tell Cornwallis the tale. Cowpens has been called 
the Bennington of the Southern campaign. 

Now Morgan found himself greatly embarrassed by his cap- 
tures. Into his hands had fallen the artillery, the wagons, a 
hundred horses, eight hundred muskets, and more than five 
hundred prisoners. Morgan at once retreated, full well know- 
ing that Cornwallis would strain every nerve to overtake him. 
The British commander took up the pursuit as soon as he 
heard of the defeat; burning his heavy baggage and everything 
that was not necessary to a forced march, he set out to catch 
Morgan before he could rejoin Greene. But Morgan was moving 




243. Greene 
in command 
of the 
Southern 
army; Mor- 
gan's victory 
at Cowpens 
— 1781 



Nathaxael Greene 



244. 

Greene's 

famous 

retreat 



194 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



and Greene was moving. Encumbered with his prisoners and 
captured material, Morgan's weary troops hardly succeeded 
in crossing the Catawba before Cornwallis reached it. But a 
hea\^ rain swelled the river and Cornwallis was unable to cross; 
and Morgan now sent off his prisoners and stores under guard 
by a road nearer the mountains. Greene himself, protected by 
a small escort, had ridden hard, and here took charge of the 
retreat; he had left his main body with orders for it to retire 
into North Carolina and unite with Morgan wherever this was 
possible. 

The commander had foreseen that Morgan would retreat; he 
had foreseen that Cornwallis would pursue, and he had made 
his plans accordingly. The retreat was continued, and it was 
kept up entirely across the state of North Carolina, with Corn- 
wallis closely following and occasionally skirmishing with 
Greene's rearguard. When Greene went into bivouac for the 
night after crossing the Yadkin, Cornwallis's advance appeared 
on the south side of the river; and again the rains fell and the 
swollen river protected the Americans. At Guilford Court- 
house, Greene's main body, under Huger, united with Morgan's 
division on February 7, and on February 14 the American army 
succeeded in crossing the Dan into Virginia, and Cornwallis 
gave up the pursuit. Greene's masterly retreat and the Brit- 
ish general's dogged pursuit comprise a movement greatly 
celebrated in the records of war, in which Greene's escape out- 
classes many a showy victory. 
245. Battle Greene's rearguard had crossed the Dan on February 14. 
Three days later he threw forward the same troops, now 
become the advance-guard; and when his expected reenforce- 
ments had arrived, he recrossed the Dan with his main body. 
The two armies joined battle at Guilford Courthouse on March 
15, the British general almost through constraint deciding to 
attack Greene's superior force. The combat was bloody; the 
discipline of the British regulars carried the field held by the 
American militia, and Greene confessed defeat. Yet the Brit- 
ish loss had been very much greater than that of the Americans, 



THE WAR IN THE SOUTH 195 

and Cornwallis marched away, leaving many of his wounded 

to the care of his enemy. So far as miHtary and poHtical 

consequences were concerned, Greene had gained the victory. 

CornwalHs retreated to Wihiiington, and Greene advanced 

into South CaroHna. 

Colonel Henry Lee, the celebrated "Lighthorse Harry" of 246. Marion 

the Revolution, had been General Greene's able subordinate in ^" ®®' 
' Greene's 

the previous campaign, and was now in command of the light campaign 
corps which intervened between the main body and the forces 
of the enemy. Lee joined Marion, and together they captured 
Fort Watson by building a tower of logs so tall that it over- 
looked the fort, which surrendered on April 23. On April 
25 Colonel Rawdon advanced upon Greene at Hobkirk's 
Hill, and gained a victory through the giving way of a veteran 
Continental regiment; but it was a dear-bought field, and Raw- 
don in May evacuated Camden and directed his march upon 
Marion and Lee, who were besieging Fort Motte. Within the 
fort stood the mansion of Mrs. Motte, who had taken refuge in 
a farmhouse on the plantation. Rawdon was soon heard from; 
his advance was near by; and Marion and Lee felt that burning 
arrows must be used to compel surrender. But consideration 
for Mrs. Motte restrained them, until the lady herself, hearing 
of their embarrassment, placed in their hands a bow and quiver. 
The plan succeeded, and the fort surrendered. Fort Granby 
soon capitulated, Orangeburg also; and there were but two 
fortified posts left to the British on South Carolina: Charleston 
and Ninety-Sbc. 

Greene marched against Ninety-Six, while Lee, whom Pickens 
would join later, moved upon Augusta, which place, with its 
two forts, surrendered on May 31, after a most determined 
resistance. 

Meanwhile Greene had pressed the siege of Ninety-Six, his 
fortifications and approaches being planned by Kosciusko, but 
the approach of Rawdon with a superior force determined 
Greene to deliver an assault, which was repulsed, and Greene 
withdrew without contesting Rawdon 's march. 



196 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



247. Battle 
of Eutaw 
Springs 



After a rest during the greatest heat of summer, Greene 
took the field against Stewart, now commanding Rawdon's 
forces, to which had been added the garrison of Ninety-Six, 
that post having been evacuated. In the battle which followed, 
at Eutaw Springs, Greene forced the British army from its 
camp, and though it was able to rally and return to its original 
position, the day's work had brought to an end the royal power 
in South Carolina. Stewart retreated to Charleston; and to 
that city and Savannah the British were confined for the 
remainder of the war. 



248. Ad- 
vance of 
Cornwallis 
into Virginia 



249. Lafay- 
ette defends 
Virginia; 
the York- 
town cam- 
paign 



VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN: 1781 

Cornwallis moved from Wilmington April 25, directing his 
march upon Petersburg, at which place he expected to form a 
junction with General Phillips, already operating in Virginia. 
Phillips reached Petersburg in May, and died there of fever. 
The command of his forces devolved upon Benedict Arnold, 
now a brigadier-general in the British army and engaged in an 
attempt to suppress the rebellious colonies. Cornwallis entered 
Petersburg May 20, and took command of the combined forces. 
On May 24 Arnold, by permission, left Virginia for New York, 
impelled by the treatment that he received from his new 
companions-in-arms. 

General Lafayette had been chosen by Washington for the 
defence of Virginia, and the youthful commander opposed 
Cornwallis with courage and skill. With Count Rochambeau, 
the general of the French forces in New England, Washington 
concerted measures for an attack upon New York, and General 
Clinton, alarmed for the safety of his army, ordered reenforce- 
ments from Cornwallis, who was taking town after town in 
Virginia with fair hope of reducing that state to submission. 
The commander-in-chief must be obeyed, and in order to ship 
the troops demanded by Clinton, Cornwallis left the interior and 
approached the coast, taking position at Yorktown. Lafayette 
followed and fortified a position in his rear. In the mean- 
time, to escape the hurricane season of the West Indies, Count 



VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN: 1781 



197 



DeGrasse sent Washington word that he was coming north 
and would cooperate with him in Chesapeake bay. This entire 
condition was Washington's great opportunity. With Rocham- 
beau he quickly arranged for a campaign against Cornwallis 
instead of against Clinton, and the armies moved southward 




The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, October 19, 17S1 
From the painting by Trumbull in the Capitol at Washington 

and blocked Cornwallis's retreat by land, while the French 
fleet prevented his escape by sea. The British general, on 
October 17, 1781, surrendered his army to Washington, and the 
result was the practical cessation of hostilities in America. 



THE WAR IN THE WEST 
By the terms of the treaty of 1763 between Great Britain and 250. Set- 
France (171) the former power had acquired Canada, and King trans-Alle- 
George II had proclaimed the country west of the Alleghanies ghany 
and north of the Ohio a part of Quebec, while the country south 
of the Ohio was reserved for the Indians and for future colonies 
that might receive royal authority to settle therein. Such con- 
ditions rendered possible Great Britain's acknowledgment of 



iqS the revolutionary war 

the independence of the thirteen colonies with the proviso that 
each colony should have no claim upon the western lands. 

But to this land the hunters began to go; following them, 
the surveyors, and later the settlers. These men of the forest 
lived harsh, narrow lives of toil and danger. In the conquest 
of the land every acre was cleared by the axe and every hut was 
defended by the rifle. These backwoodsmen of the Southwest 
received no aid from the government until after they had estab- 
lished their own. The government followed the trail of the 
pioneer. From the valleys of the Alleghany and its tributaries 
came the Presbyterian Scotch-Irish, "Protestants of the Prot- 
estants"; what the Puritans were to the East these men were 
to the West. They impressed their peculiar character on the 
civilization of the Southwest. There was a large element of 
the Germans from both Pennsylvania and Carolina, while 
Huguenots, Dutch, and Swedes came from Delaware^ a single 
generation in the wilderness welding them into a body of 
Americans. They settled together in groups of families for 
mutual protection. They built their log schoolhouses and 
their churches. 

251. South Through her charter North Carolina claimed the land lying 
Watauga ' between the present western boundary and the Mississippi 

river, and had additional claim upon it because of settlements 
on the Watauga begun by Bean, Robinson, and others in 1769. 
These settlements had prospered, and in 1772 the people organ- 
ized an independent government and effected an agreement 
known as the "Articles of the Watauga Association," the first 
written constitution adopted west of the Alleghanies by a com- 
munity of native American citizens. For six years this inde- 
pendent government continued in force until, in the year when 
the British evacuated Philadelphia, North Carolina organized 
Watauga into Washington county and appointed civil and 
military officers for its government. 

252. Dun- Kentucky, settled by James Harrod and Daniel Boone in 
_jyy^ 1774 and 1775, was rapidly growing in importance. Virginia 

claimed the territory through her original charter and was not 



THE WAR IN THE WEST 



199 



253. North 
of the Ohio 



unwilling to defend it against the claims of the king. A war 
with the Indians, known as Lord Dunmore's war, began in 1773. 
For more than a year the usual Indian atrocities were repeated 
till a decisive battle at Point Pleasant on the Great Kanawha 
river was fought, in which the settlers gained a victory. In a 
treaty the Indians surrendered all claims to lands south of the 
Ohio. Two years later the Cherokees of the South, set on by 
the Tories, caused a repetition of the sufferings experienced 
elsewhere when Tories incited the Indians 
to go on the warpath. By 1778 the 
Indians within the Kentucky and Tennes- 
see borders had been subdued, yet the 
bold frontiersmen were ready always to 
spring to arms at the call of their leaders. 

Although fifteen years had passed since 
the British claims to the Canada country 
had been confirmed by treaty, compara- 
tively few Englishmen had ever visited 
the region between the Ohio and the 
Great Lakes. The French posts were still 
French in language and in the character- 
istics of the people who are called the ^ Frontiersman 
traditional enemies of the English. They had been released 
from their allegiance to the French government and had been 
bound in allegiance to another which they hated. The British 
garrisons at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia and other small 
trading-posts were essential as a part of governmental policy, 
but they added to the displeasure of the French fur traders 
and their retinues. 

In 1777 Governor Patrick Henry gave a colonel's commis-254. Clark 
sion to George Rogers Clark, representing the so-called county ^*°!j^® 
of Kentucky in the Virginia legislature, and also granted the— 1778 
new and youthful colonel material aid in an undertaking which 
seemed to promise immense results from small expenditure. 
In short, Clark had so laid his case before Governor Henry 
that he went back to Kentucky with authority to raise troops 




200 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 



255. Wyo- 
ming and 
Cherry 
VaUey — 
1778 



256. Fi- 
nances of 
the War 



for the purpose of winning from the British the territory south 
of the Great Lakes and north of the Ohio. Clark got together 
about one hundred and fifty men, moved his command in rude 
punts down the Ohio, landed on the north bank somewhere 
near the mouth of the Tennessee, and advanced overland upon 
Kaskaskia, which he surprised and captured while the inhab- 
itants were at a revel. The garri- 
son surrendered at once and the 
American flag was hoisted over 
the fort. Governor Hamilton, 
who ruled the Northwest country 
under Great Britain, soon heard 
of Clark's exploit, but before he 
could get ready to advance, Clark 
had captured Cahokia and Vin- 
cennes ; and he held the territory 
until the close of the war. Mean- 
'^'A<* while the settlement of the coun- 
try was very rapid. 
George Rogers Clark In the summer of 1778 the 

Tories and Iroquois combined and 
fell upon the defenceless people of Wyoming in western Penn- 
sylvania and almost annihilated them. Cherry Valley, also, 
in western New York, was devastated by the Indians and 
Tories. Washington decided to break the power of the Six 
Nations and ordered General Sullivan to march against them. 
In the ensuing operations (1779) the Indians and Tories were 
defeated and the country laid waste. 

The commercial policy of England had drained the colonies 
financially, leaving only about $10,000,000 in specie in the 
entire country at any one time, about enough to run the gov- 
ernment for six months. The colonies possessed no mints and 
no developed mines. Under these circumstances something 
must be done and it seemed necessary to issue paper money. 
This issuance would not necessarily have become a hard- 
ship had congress limited the amount issued, but by 1779 




THE WAR IN THE WEST 



20I 



$200,000,000 had been put into circulation and the policy 
had become disastrous. "Congress requested the states tp 
pay in a sufficient sum to retire its proportion of the issue. 
This they never paid, but they issued large sums of similar 
currency which depreciated in value until it became worthless. 
These unredeemed notes proved to be a tax on those who held 




pONt SIXTH OF A 
)^ DOLLAR 

'fm According^ 
mto a Re/olu- 
]^\fionofCoisi- 

Kt^,|jG R ESS, fof- 

gWa/Phi- 
!l^l ladelphia. 











«^3t:5:<!*/<»lf^x^^%x« 




(Printed by Ha// & Se/krsM 
^ in Philadelphia. 1776. ^ 



Face 



Back 



Reduced Facsimile of Continental Currency 

them, but congress, understanding the temper of the people, 
knew that was the only tax they would stand." 

Domestic loans were first tried — one for $1,500,000 was 
raised by borrowing on funded loans. This proving inade- 
quate, a loan office certificate was tried — bearing interest ; 
then the states were asked to furnish supplies of money. A 
lottery was opened. Money was raised by confiscating the 
property of the loyalists. Through the commissioners in Paris, 
France sent $6,000,000, and other loans came from Holland. 
The cost of the war was $135,000,000. A national debt of only 
$35,000,000 was left. The name of Robert Morris, "The 
Financier of the Revolution," the self-sacrificing patriot, will 
always be associated with the fiscal troubles of the great war. 




202 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

257. Treaty After about two years a definitive treaty was concluded 
of Paris— b(>t^veen Great Britain and the United States (September 3, 
1783). On the same day treaties were made by Great Britain 
and Spain, and Great Britain and France. 

By the terms of the American 
treaty, Great Britain acknowl- 
edged the independence of the 
United States, naming each of 
the thirteen colonies. Great 
Britain gave up all claim to the 
region west of the AUeghanies, 
so the Mississippi became the 
western boundary of the United 
States, and Florida, with its 
vague northern limit, became 
^\the southern boundary. The 
Facsimile of the Signatures northeast boundary was also 
UPON THE Treaty of Peace, 1783 ^^g^^^ ^^j caused trouble until 

From the original in the State j^ ^^S settled in 1842 by the 
JJepartment, Washington 

Webster-Ashburton Treaty. 

The treaty provided that the United States allow free navi- 
gation of the Mississippi river. The British insisted that the 
loyalists should be reimbursed for their losses by confiscation 
during the war, and it was agreed that Congress should recom- 
mend that the state legislatures observe this demand, but the 
legislatures took no steps in the matter. 

Rights to the fisheries of Newfoundland were to be shared 
equally by Americans and British, and debts owed in America 
to British creditors should be payable at the close of the war. 

The wise diplomacy of Franklin, Jay, and Adams, the active 
American Commissioners, had overcome many a difiiculty in 
the course of the negotiations; and their success has merited 
the applause of the historian. Great Britain, France, and Spain 
signed the treaty of Versailles on September 3, 1783, the day 
of the signing of the treaty of Paris. 

In the following November the British evacuated New York. 



THE WAR IN THE WEST 203 

The battle of democracy had been won. In defense of human 
Hberty the American had been tried and had proved loyal to 
truth; his capacity for establishing free national institutions 
was yet to be tested. 

SUMMARY 

The colonists entered the war without the purpose of gaining independ- 
ence. But the divergence of opinion between them and the British and 
increasing hostility to a government residing three thousand miles away 
soon developed such a spirit of colonial union as inevitably led to the Dec- 
laration of Independence and the establishment of a national government. 
For five years, however (until 1781), that government was without consti- 
tutional basis other than the good will of the states. The Second Continen- 
tal Congress was trivial in comparison with the powerful monarchy of Great 
Britain. The American navy was too small to be counted as a factor in the 
beginning, though by its efficiency it did much to determine the outcome. 
Public sentiment in America was divided and the available resources of the 
country were insignificant when contrasted with those of the British. The 
conditions led Great Britain to believe that the war would be a small matter 
of short duration. The British occupied Boston, New York, Philadelphia, 
Savannah, Charleston, and Newport, and thwarted the attempt of the 
Americans upon Canada, but they failed to separate the colonies by their 
campaigns along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. 

The salient features of the progress of the war from the American point 
of view were: the evacuation of Boston, which gave the colonies confidence 
in the fighting qualities of the raw colonial troops when they had to contend 
against the trained soldiers of Great Britain; the battle of Trenton, which 
renewed hope, courage, and confidence in a waning cause; the battle of 
Saratoga and the surrender of Burgoyne with seven thousand troops, — 
counted one of the decisive battles in the history of the world because of 
its military importance, its greater moral value in giving America prestige 
in the Courts of Europe, and its effect upon the issue of the war fought for 
human liberties; the military occupation of the country north of the Ohio 
by George Rogers Clark and his little band, which caused Great Britain, 
in the Treaty of Paris, to recognize x\merica's claim to the great Northwest; 
Greene's campaign in the South, in which he wrested three states from 
British domination; the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the crowning 
event of the war. 

None of the great .Vmerican generals had been technically trained in 
military science. The}' had onh' the severe, sure, and practical skill acquired 
in fighting the French and Indians, without which it is difficult to believe 
that their feats in arms would have been possible. 



204 THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

The peace concluded at Paris in 1783 closed one of the most heroic 
struggles for human liberty that the world has knowTi; but it opened, for 
the Americans, problems of peace no less serious and difficult of solution 
than those of war. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. If modern battleships had been in use during the Revolution, would the out- 
come of the war have been different? 2. Enumerate the advantages of each nation 
at the beginning of the Revolution. 3. Why were so many of the colonists slow in 
joining the Revolution? 4. Did the British government have any sound basis, 
moral or legal, for their policy of coercion? 5. By what right did the second Conti- 
nental Congress assume legislative and executive functions? 6. In what sense 
was Jefferson the mouthpiece of the American people? 7. What importance do you 
attach to the defeat of the British at Saratoga? 8. In what incident of the war 
did Washington exhibit the finest qualities? 9. In your opinion, what was the most 
important battle of the war? 10. Who was the real hero of Saratoga? 11. Was 
Benedict Arnold's act of treachery a result of a change in his character? 12. Were 
the Indians an important factor in this war? 13. What territory was relinquished 
by Great Britain by the Peace of Paris, 1783? 14. How was the Revolution an aid 
to the cause of liberty everywhere? 15. Name some of the serious problems that 
confronted the Americans when the war was over. 16. Why was the peace treaty 
formed in Europe? 17. What importance should be attached to the trans- Alle- 
ghany region in this war? 18. How do you account for the success of the American 
navy? 19. What effect did the success of the navy have upon our standing abroad? 
20. Comment on the following: (i) The Conway Cabal; (2) "Mad Anthony" 
Wayne; (3) Lafayette; (4) George Rogers Clark; (5) Robert Morris. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE FORMATION OF A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Hart, Formation of the Union; Cambridge Modern 
History, VII ; Morse, Benjamin Franklin; McLaughlin, Confederation and Con- 
stitution; Wilson, American People, vol. iii ; Dewey, Financial History; Walker, 
Making of the Nation; Fiske, Critical Period. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, II; McDonald, Select Documents; 
American Leaflets, Nos. 22, 28, 32; Hill, Liberty Documents. 

Illustrative Material. — Stowe, Minister s Wooing, Oldtown Folks; Watson, 
Old Bell of Independence. 

EARLY TENDENCIES TOWARD UNION 

A common language, common ideas of government, large 258. Efforts 

sympathy in religion, common danger from the Indians and ^°'' "°i°° 

, o 7 o 1643, 1690, 

the French, and common remoteness from the mother country 1754 

were factors and conditions in the development of a sense of 
fellowship among settlers of different colonies, of which sense 
the New England Confederation of 1643 was the first great 
public expression. Long before the Revolution men of Massa- 
chusetts and of Virginia fought side by side and learned the 
purposes and merits of one another; and many prejudices 
gave way to that natural affection which neighbor has for 
neighbor. 

In 1690, at the suggestion and under the direction of Eng- 
land, a colonial assembly was held at New York (105) for the 
purpose of forming a defensive alliance with the Iroquois 
against the French. Seven years later Wilham Penn outlined 
for the English Board of Trade a plan of intercolonial union by 
which a commander-in-chief of the army, appointed by the king, 
should preside over a council composed of two representatives 
from each province. Penn was ahead of his time in many ideas. 

In 1754 Benjamin Franklin offered a plan of union to the 



2o6 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

Albany Congress. It provided for the establishment of a fed- 
eral body to act as a political clearing-house for all the colonies. 
A president-general appointed by the crown and a grand 
council chosen by the general assemblies of the colonies were to 
constitute this body. Representation in the council was to be 
based upon the amount of revenue derived from each colony. 
The congress approved the plan, but the colonies and the Eng- 
lish government rejected it — the colonies because it gave too 
much royal power, the government because it was too demo- 
cratic. Franklin, as well as Pcnn, was a man whose thought 
anticipated the future. 

259. The Though the plan failed, it was, nevertheless, a factor in 
fndfan War tlevcloping intercolonial union. It brought men together from 
and the every inhabited section of English America. From Maryland 
Committees ^^ -^^^ Hampshire colonial leaders met for the first time in 

of Corre- ^ ... 

spondence discussion of matters of a common interest. Local jealousies 
unifying ^^^^^ softened and effort was made to find a general basis from 
which to consider colonial questions. Some of the best thought 
of America had been directed toward a plan for uniting the 
colonies. Almost immediately there followed the French and 
Indian war, whose effects in removing prejudices and breaking 
down many other obstacles to union have been stated in a 
previous chapter. Close upon the heels of this unifying force 
came another in the preliminaries of the Revolution. If intel- 
ligent sympathy is the basis of genuine cooperation, doubtless 
there were few stronger factors in the promotion of the Union 
than the Committees of Correspondence who disseminated 
information concerning conditions throughout the colonies. 

TENDENCIES OF THE REVOLUTION 

260. First Prior to the Declaration of Independence the resistance of the 
^^^rd'fnde- colonists to the mother country had been based upon their con- 
pendence ception of their rights as English citizens. They stood together 
[at^Mnfl"/' from 1760 to 1776 because they believed that English law had 
ences— l)een violated at their expense by a despotic king. In few 
1765-1776 jj^gt.^jj(,gs, and those not before the later years of the period. 



TENDENCIES OF THE REVOLUTION 207 

was there any conception of an independent American power. 
And yet the movement toward independence is cyclonic in its 
swiftness during that whole sixteen years. The Stamp Act Con- 
gress (1765), the Virginia Resolves (1769), the Non-importation 
Agreements (1769), the Local Committees of Correspondence, 
(1770-71), the Colonial Committees of Correspondence (1772- 
73), the First Continental Congress (1774), and the Second Con- 
tinental Congress (1775) were factors in developing, not only 
independence, but also its corollary, colonial union. Having 
learned to think and to feel and to act as a unit, it was only 
a short step to political independence and confederation. The 
climax of the movement was accordingly reached on July 4, 
1776, when congress formally adopted the Declaration of 
Independence and set about the drafting of the Articles of 
Confederation. 

Having begun the Revolution in defense of their rights as 261. The 
Englishmen, the colonists now declared their purpose to con- states ante- 
tinue it in support of their rights as men. The Declaration is the union 
the first conscious step in the forming of an American nation, °^ states 
and the contention that "the Union is older than the states" 
has no basis in fact, for state organizations had been taking 
form for a whole year before a federal government was seri- 
ously proposed. Those who make such contention evidently 
refer to the fact that the Second Continental Congress had 
directed the joint colonial interests since June, 1775, and that 
various colonies, under its advice, had formed new state gov- 
ernments and had adopted new constitutions.' This is true 
enough. And yet it is evident that in giving such advice 

^ Massachusetts' charter had been forfeited in 1774, while in New Hampshire 
and Virginia the royal governors had vacated, leaving those colonies without legal 
and constitutional foundation. Accordingly, congress had advised Massachusetts 
to follow her charter " until a governor of his Majesty's appointment will consent to 
govern the colony according to the charter." Since New Hampshire had no charter, 
congress advised "that it be recommended to the provincial convention of New 
Hampshire to call a full and free representation of the people, and most effectually 
secure peace and good order, during the continuance of the present dispute between 
Great Britain and the colonies." 



2o8 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

congress was looking not to a permanent but to a temporary 
arrangement, and it is equally evident that congress itself 
did not believe that the union was permanent. It is unques- 
tionably true that the Union did not in fact create the states. 
The thought of independent statehood preceded necessarily the 
thought of independent union. The spirit of union preceded 
the ultimate form of independent statehood, but by no possi- 
bility of logic or of fact could the form of independent union 
have preceded the form of independent statehood. 

262. Local The spirit of union — a common sympathy, mutual interests, 
mustVr^™ a consciousness of the unity of thought and feeling — developed 
cede a na- rapidly as the Revolution proceeded. As long as the colo- 
tion spin ^.^^^ \\rere defending their rights as men, as long as they had 

to fight a common foe in defense of inalienable rights, their 
policies were remarkably unselfish and considerate of the inter- 
ests of the colonies as a whole. But when they undertook to 
form a general government, when it became necessary to define 
the relations between the states and their common agent — the 
Union — there was not such unanimity either of spirit or of 
action. The Revolution had greatly augmented and made 
secure the spirit of union; it had not yet developed a satis- 
factory form of union; and, as we shall see, perhaps the chief 
obstacle to this end was the vigor of independent statehood. 

WORKING OUT A FORM OF GOVERNMENT 

263. Frank- The development of the spirit of union led to the most dra- 
iin'spian; j^^^-j^, situation in American history. The evolution of a fun- 
lution; damental law, creating a framework of government and definmg 
Dickinson's j^.^ parts and their intricate relations, expresses the most phil- 
osophic process in which the American people have consciously 
participated. On July 21, 1775, Benjamin Franklin laid before 
congress a plan of union. Among its provisions was one for 
the control of commerce by a congress chosen from the states 
in proportion to population. Each member of congress should 
have one vote and a minority of the state assemblies might 
amend the constitution. A common treasury should be 



WORKING OUT A FORM OF GOVERNMENT 209 

created at the expense of all the colonies, and congress should 
have power to deal with the Indians, with questions of peace 
and war, and with disputes over boundaries. Franklin's plan 
was rejected, but the leaven was at work, and on June 7 of the 
following year, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a 
resolution in congress declaring that "these United Colonies 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states," and 
on June 12 congress resolved "that a committee be appointed 
to prepare and digest the form of a confederation to be entered 
into between these colonies." This resolution resulted in a 
draft, by a committee composed of one delegate from each 
colony except New Jersey, of the plan of confederation known 
as the Dickinson draft from the chairman of the committee, 
John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. The document provided for 
the control of commerce by the states, permitted each state to 
send as many as seven and not less than two delegates to 
the confederate congress, gave the entire delegation from 
each state only one vote, and made amendments possible only 
with the consent of all the states. The questions of represen- 
tation, taxation of property in slaves, regulation of commerce, 
and control of western lands developed such differences of 
opinion that numerous amendments delayed its adoption 
until November 15, 1777. It was then sent to the states for 
ratification, with the direction that "these articles shall be 
proposed to the legislatures of all the United States, to be 
considered, and if approved of by them, they are advised to 
authorize their delegates to ratify the same in the congress of 
the United States; which being done, the same shall become 
conclusive." 

The document itself should be studied as a whole. It made 264. State 

no provision for an executive or for a judicial department, sovereignty 
^ ■' '^ the essence 

Congress was to be chosen by the state legislatures and should of the 

be responsible only to them. The delegates from each state ^'^*"^^®^ 
should have only one vote, and the votes of nine state dele- 
gations were necessary to carry any measure. No power was 
granted to congress to collect either direct or indirect taxes 



2IO FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

or to raise an army, and hence congress would be unable to 
sustain its agreements with foreign nations. Control over 
domestic commerce was left to the states, and no pressure could 
be brought to bear by congress upon any individual or upon 
any member of the Confederation. It is therefore clear from 
these features that the fundamental idea in the Articles of Con- 
federation is state sovereignty. Absorbing the very life of the 
American people, and of congress itself, was the necessity for 
overthrowing despotism. Restriction of power was the end for 
which the colonies were fighting, and the conversion of colonies 
into states carried with it no change of sentiment toward lib- 
erty. No system of government that would tend to endanger 
the liberties of individual states could have been adopted. It 
is perhaps fortunate that Franklin's plan was not submitted to 
the states for ratification, for it most surely would have been 
rejected and the colonies would have been without a fundamen- 
tal law of union. It is not to be inferred, however, that the 
Articles did not mark a decided step in the direction of a fed- 
eral union. Feebly, to be sure, but none the less certainly, all 
the people were turning their gaze toward a common authority. 
During the Revolution, they necessarily formed the habit of 
looking to the new government for the direction of foreign affairs. 
The Confederation could borrow money on its own credit, 
and could make requisitions upon the states. It had recogni- 
tion from foreign powers as an independent sovereign nation, 
and it had jurisdiction over the question of state boundaries. 
In fact, it was such a long step, as viewed by the colonists, 
toward centralization of power that it barely escaped being 
defeated altogether, and its weakness became apparent only 
after the pressure of war was removed. 
265. Claims The large states protested against equality of representation 
Western ^^ Congress, while the smaller states would accept no other 
lands basis. But perhaps the most far-reaching debate concerning 

the relation of the states to the new organization arose over 
the management and disposal of the western lands. 

Early charters had made grants "from sea to sea." As 



WORKING OUT A FORM OF GOVERNMENT 211 

time passed it developed that some of these grants overlapped, 
but in 1774 parliament annexed to Quebec all colonial territory 
north of the Ohio river. After the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, the various states reasserted their claims to this region. 
For example, Virginia brought forward her charter of 1609 
(62) and claimed all territory as far as the Mississippi river.^ 
With greater force, she contended that this region had been 
conquered from the British by George Rogers Clark, a Virginia 
officer, in 1778-79, and that, therefore, this territory was hers 
by right of conquest. 

Massachusetts claimed under the charter of 1629 all territory 
west of New York and east of the Mississippi, between those 
parallels that lie three miles north of the source of the Merri- 
mac and three miles south of the source of the Charles. 

New York asserted her right to all lands previously occupied 
by the Iroquois north of the Tennessee river, because this 
Indian tribe had previously ceded that region through the 
governor of New York to the British king. 

Connecticut had never surrendered her charter of 1662, 
and therefore desired to retain her territory as far west as the 
Mississippi. 

Georgia stood out for her charter limits of 1732, with the 
addition of the lands lying north of the Floridas and west of 
her present boundaries back to the Mississippi. 

North Carolina claimed the present state of Tennessee, and 
South Carolina claimed a narrow strip between North Caro- 
lina and Georgia. 

Against the state land claims in the West, the states which 266. The 
had no such claims contended that this region had been won ^j^^ g^^^^g 
from the British with a common treasure of men and money, surrendered 
They had spilled as much blood and spent as much money general 
to acquire this territory as any of those who held claims, and, government 
since these lands had formerly belonged to the mother country, 

^ This charter, conveying to Virginia "the land from sea to sea, west and north- 
west," was annulled in 1624. That of Massachusetts was likewise annulled in 1684. 
The Carolinas surrendered theirs in 1729, and Georgia hers in 1752. 



212 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

the United States had become heir to all her rights and prerog- 
atives therein. Under the influence of such arguments, and 
after stubborn resistance on the part of Maryland, a state with 
no great unoccupied lands with which to defray her expenses in 
the Revolution, the states gradually surrendered their claims 
to this region. New York, in 1780, adopted her present west- 
ern boundary; Virginia, in 1784, gave up practically all of the 
territory north of the Ohio river in accordance with a previous 
agreement; Massachusetts followed in 1785; Connecticut in 
1786 (reserving a strip 120 miles long on Lake Erie, afterward 
known as the Western Reserve); South Carolina in 1787; 
while North Carolina held out until 1790, and Georgia until 
1802. 

267. Ratifi- When it became evident that the claims would be surrendered, 
th^'Tf^ Maryland ratified the Articles of Confederation on March i, 

1 78 1, and they immediately became effective. 

The contest over the Articles shows the difficulty of estab- 
lishing a central government with even the limited power 
which the instrument gave. On the other hand, the final acqui- 
sition of control over the vast western region by congress 
greatly strengthened the idea of nationality, which was not at 
all lessened because of the fact that the new government was 
under the necessity of improvising some form of organization 
for the territory. 

268. Emi- Even before the Revolution had closed, settlers had begun 

fh*^w° t° ^° push out into the new country. After congress acquired 

Franklin— Control, it decided to place the land on the market at the price 

1784; gov- y£ Qj^g dollar per acre, in order to raise funds with which to dis- 

ernment of ^ ' 

the North- charge the war debt, and a stream of emigration set in toward 

west Terri- ^-j^^. West. After the Revolution the stream became a tide, and 
tory 

state governments began to be organized prematurely. In 

1784 the settlers along the upper Tennessee set up the "State 
of Franklin," elected a legislature, and chose John Sevier gover- 
nor. Although this organization soon dissolved, and the region 
was reannexed to North Carolina, the settlers were there in 
great numbers, and others continued to come. 



WORKING OUT A FORM OF GOVERNMENT 213 







JuHN SLVILR 



In 1785 congress adopted an ordinance providing for the 
organization of state governments in the western territory 
under certain conditions, and making possible their admission 
to the Union. ^ A New England 
real estate company now tried to 
establish colonies on the land west 
of Pennsylvania and north of the 
Ohio, but found it difficult to 
induce emigrants to settle in that 
region because of the absence of 
civil law there. When the situa- 
tion was brought before the gov- 
ernment again, congress, in 1787, 
with only one negative vote, 
passed an "Ordinance for the 
Organization of Government in 
the Northwest" — the large 
territory now occupied by the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, Wisconsin, and the eastern part of Minnesota. 
This document, though quickly superseded by the Constitu- 
tion, was extremely important in two ways. In the first 
place, it gave the settlers of that region the benefits of civil 
government, and thereby encouraged immigration, while it 
determined the kind of institutions that should prevail. In 
the second place, it was a powerful contribution to the idea of 
nationality, since it opened a vast territory whose inhabitants 
looked to the United States, rather than to their respective 
native state governments, for advice and protection. It will 
be seen later that this region was an important factor in the 
spread of the idea of national sovereignty. 

Some of the fundamental provisions of the document are: 
I. "Slavery and involuntary servitude shall forever be 
prohibited." 

^ It is significant in this connection that the original ordinance contained a 
clause prohibiting slavery; it is said to have originated with JefEerson, and was 
defeated by one vote. 



214 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 



269. Fi- 
nancial dif- 
ficulties; 
Robert 
Morris 



2. "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary for 
the welfare of mankind, schools and the means of education 
shall forever be encouraged," 

3. "The navigable rivers leading into the Mississippi and 
the St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between them, shall 
be common highways and forever free." 

4. "The inhabitants shall forever enjoy religious freedom, 
the habeas corpus, trial by jury, and equal civil and poHtical 
privileges." 

WEAKNESS OF THE CONFEDERATION 

Among other questions with which the Confederation had to 
deal, and which helped to develop the movement toward 
stronger union, was the question of finances. Congress did not 
receive as much money from the sale of the western lands as 
was expected, so that the national debt, amounting to some 
$35,000,000, was left unpaid. The soldiers were clamoring 

for pay, and the credit of the 
new government was declining 
both at home and abroad. In 
1 78 1 Robert Morris, a wealthy 
Philadelphia merchant and 
banker, became superintendent- 
of-finance. He paid the soldiers 
(except the officers) by the use 
of his personal credit, and in- 
duced congress to charter the 
Bank of North America — the 
first bank of a national character 
in the country. The financial 
burdens of the Confederation 
soon became too heavy for Morris, and in I785 he resigned his 
office, convinced of the weakness of the federal scheme. 

In foreign relations also the Confederation proved its inade- 
quacy, and, again made evident the need of a stronger central 
government. In forming a commercial treaty with Spain, 




Robert Morris 



WEAKNESS OF THE CONFEDERATION 215 

now in control of Louisiana, and hence of the mouth of the 270. Foreign 
Mississippi, her government refused free navigation of that g . *\°'^^ • 
stream. The United States possibly would have yielded to Great Brit- 
Spain but for the vigorous protest of the Southwest, whose ^'"' ... ^^'^ 
interests were so closely bound up with the use of this river. 
Threats of revolt were boldly made by the hardy frontiersmen, 
and congress very wisely postponed a settlement. 

Relations with Great Britain were no less unsatisfactory 
than relations with Spain. Immediately after the Revolution, 
the old laws of trade which had been used with severity against 
her competitors on the sea, Great Britain now employed against 
the Americans. The commercial and industrial interests in 
this country were crippled, and congress lacked the power 
to retaliate, since the Articles left with the states the control 
over commerce. Gold and silver were consumed in payment 
for the commodities imported from Great Britain, while the 
trade laws largely restricted American produce to the home 
market. Business depression prevailed, public and private 
credit declined, and the number of debtors throughout the 
country increased at an alarming rate. A cry went up from all 
over the land for remedial legislation. Lacking confidence in 
the Confederation, many appealed to the state governments. 
A paper currency was issued by most of the states, with nothing 
back of it except their promise to pay. This desperate recourse 
worked a serious hardship upon the merchants who had invested 
in goods which could now be sold only for a depreciated piece 
of paper. But the merchants were not the only dissatisfied 
class. All of the business interests suffered because of a lack 
of specie, while the variety of foreign coins in use was a hin- 
drance to the development of commerce and industry. The 
expenses of government were heavy, necessitating higher taxes ' 
than those to which the colonists had been accustomed. The 
debtor class was large, and growing larger still from day to 
day. The laws were heavy upon those who could not pay, 
imprisonment being a common penalty. The whole outlook 
was gloomy, and the mental depression led to violence. In 



2i6 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, insurrection 
had to be put down by force, while Tennessee, Kentucky, Ver- 
mont, and Maine asked that they be allowed to form separate 
states to the end that they might do something to alleviate the 
people's sufferings. In Massachusetts, Daniel Shays, in 1787, 
led about 1800 debtors, mostly farmers, against the United 
States arsenal at Springfield. State militia met the insurgents 
at Petersham and put them to rout. The movement lost none 
of its significance because it was suppressed. Plainly such 
conditions were intolerable, and, if remedial policies were not 
soon adopted, could lead to only one result — the dissolution 
of the American Union. 
271. Viola- In the meantime, neither party was fulfilling strictly the terms 
tions of q£ ^jjg treaty of 1783. Great Britain continued to hold mili- 
Treaty; in- tary posts within the United States territory, carried away negro 

ability of slaves without making compensation for them, and seized and 
Congress ^ '^ ' 

appropriated private property. The states, on the other hand, 

would not restore citizenship to Tories, and placed legal obstacles 
in the way of the collection of debts incurred by the colonists 
in the early days of the Revolution. Congress could only 
advise the states how to deal with the question, and the result 
was that there were as many American commercial policies as 
there were American states. Some of the states levied high 
protective tariffs on British goods, and entered upon a commer- 
cial war with their neighbors. So evident was the weakness of 
the new government that Thomas Jefferson declared, "There 
never will be money in the Treasury until the Confederacy 
shows its teeth." Washington, about the same time, said, 
"Thirteen colonies pulling against each other, and all tugging 
at the federal head will soon bring ruin on the whole." In 
■ fact, leading citizens, if not many of the common people, had 
realized the inadequacy of federal power under the Articles 
almost from the beginning; and in 1786 it was seen that only 
immediate and radical reform could avert civil strife. 

In 1 78 1 congress had asked for the power to le\^ a five per 
cent ad valorem duty on imports, the proceeds to be used in 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 217 

the discharge of the public debt. Rhode Island had defeated 
this proposed amendment, as it was her right to do under the 
Articles. In 1783 congress asked for the power to levy a five 
per cent specific duty on imports, to be collected by state offi- 
cials. New York this time refused her consent, and again twelve 
of the colonies were defeated. In 1784 it was proposed to give 
congress the right to pass discriminatory measures against 
those countries that refused to enter into commercial treaties 
with the United States. This proposal met with the approval 
of seven states only, and hence came to nothing. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 

In the meantime, various suggestions were made from many 272. Ques- 

quarters that a "Continental conference" be held for the pur-*'°"^ °^ 

. . ,, Ti 1 r-r 1 • 1 commerce 

pose of frammg a Contmental charter. But the effort which (1785) give 

resulted in the making of the federal Constitution is due to "^^ *° * 

convention 
another circumstance. _ 1786 

The navigation of the Potomac river was a constant source 
of trouble between Virginia and Maryland, the one controlling 
the mouth of the stream, and the other its upper course, while 
the tariff policy of each state was directed with an eye single 
to its own welfare, and had resulted in commercial condi- 
tions that were becoming ruinous. After making unsuccessful 
attempts to adjust their differences, these states, in 1785, 
sent commissioners to Alexandria, Virginia, who immediately 
adjourned to Mount Vernon, and there discussed the whole 
question of interstate commerce as it applied not only to Vir- 
ginia and Maryland, but also to the other states that were 
concerned. 

This conference was followed the next year (1786) by a conven- 
tion at Annapolis, the purpose of which was to consider the whole 
question of both national and domestic commerce. Five states 
sent delegates to this meeting, which drew up a report recom- 
mending that a general convention be held in May, 1787, at 
Philadelphia, for the purpose of amending the Articles of Con- 
federation. The states immediately began to choose delegates 



2l8 



for:mixg a general government 



273. The 
Constitu- 
tional Con- 
vention — 
1787 



to such a con\-ention, and congress gradually made up its mind 
to issue a call for a convention "for the sole and express pur- 
pose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to 
congress and the several legislatures such alterations and 
provisions therein as shall, when agreed upon in congress 
and confirmed by the states, render the federal Constitution 
adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation 
of the Union." 

At the appointed time, May 25, 1787, delegates gathered from 
all the states except New Hampshire and Rhode Island. New 
Hampshire eventually sent representatives, but Rhode Island 
did not participate at all. 

Many of the delegates composing the convention were great 
men. After Washington, who was made president of the body, 

the names of Hamilton of New 
York and Madison of Virginia 
are the greatest in the conven- 
tion. Madison's Notes are the 
best source of information con- 
cerning the proceedings, and have 
served posterity well in giving 
the issues and in portraying the 
men who worked out our funda- 
mental law. He made a careful 
study of the history of confed- 
erate governments and presented 
the results of his investigations 
to Washington. He also drafted 
the "Virginia plan" as a working basis for the convention. He 
is called the "Father of the Constitution." Hamilton wielded 
a tremendous influence in launching the new government when 
once framed. His radical views as to the power, in degree and 
in kind, that the central government should exercise, weakened 
the confidence of the convention and injured his usefulness in 
that body. Benjamin Franklin, although past four-score, with 
his genial wit and [)rofound wisdom, was a powerful factor in 




Alexander Hamilton 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 219 

the convention. In addition to these men there were fifty-one 

others of the ablest in America. 

The convention had not been in session long before it found 274. Plans 

itself limited by the nature of the call. It had been called to * ^°J' 
■' _ ernment 

revise the Articles. But these had been found to be incapable submitted; 

of suitable amendment, and the convention began the construe- ^* . 

' '^ compromise 

tion of a new instrument. If such action was usurpation, 
the people recognized the necessity for it and approved it in 
ratifying the Constitution. 

The first plan submitted was brought forward by Edmund 
Randolph for the Virginia delegation. It provided for a 
national government consisting of a legislative body of two 
houses chosen by the states in proportion to population, and 
judicial and executive bodies appointed by the Congress, or law- 
making body. Clearly this plan favored the larger states, and 
it met with vigorous opposition from the smaller states. New 
York, which was at that time a small state, threatened to with- 
draw if such a plan was adopted. 

Connecticut now proposed a scheme by which the powers of 
the Confederation would be enlarged, but the execution of the 
federal law would remain with the states. New Jersey proposed 
a similar scheme in the interest of the smaller states, while 
Alexander Hamilton read a proposal to establish a strongly 
centralized government providing for a president and a senate, 
both to be elected for life. Charles Pinckney of South Carolina 
also laid before the convention a plan which was in many respects 
like the Virginia proposal. Finally, after a long series of de- 
bates, the Virginia scheme was made the basis of procedure. 
It provided for a legislative branch of government to be com- 
posed of two houses in each of which representation should be 
in proportion to population. The plan was attacked by the 
smaller states, which contended for a congress to consist of one 
house in which the states should have an equal vote. The 
result was the first compromise of the Constitution, according 
to which the states have equal representation in the upper house 
and proportional representation in the lower house. 



220 FORMING A GENEFL'VL GOVERNMENT 

275. The The first great problem having been solved, the next question 
compromise ijiyQiygfj the apportioning of representation in the House of 

concerning _ '^'^ " '^^ _ 

slaves as Representatives, and also brought with it the slavery question. 

property jj^ counting the population for purposes of representation in the 
lower house should negro slaves be included? The South very 
naturally said Yes, while the North, with equal consistency, 
said No. In the matter of direct taxes, also, it was proposed 
that the sums levied against each state should be in proportion 
to its population, including negroes. The South now very 
naturally said No, while the North, with equal positiveness, 
said Yes. North Carolina threatened to withdraw if such plan 
was adopted. The whole matter was settled by adopting the 
three-fifths, or federal, ratio; that is, three-fifths of the slaves 
were to be counted both for the purposes of representation and 
taxation. This ratio was nothing new; for purposes of taxa- 
tion it had already obtained by act of the congress under the 
Confederation. 

276. The It has already been observed (270) that one of the chief 
compromise ^j^.f^^-j-g qJ ^^^q Confederation was its lack of power over com- 

concermng ' 

commerce merce. New England in particular had consecjuently been a 
tation°of°'^" ^^''^'^T sufferer from British industrial competition and discrimi- 
slaves nation. When efforts were made to give to Congress the power 

to protect American interests against a repetition of such abuses, 
Southern members objected for fear it might injure Southern 
agricultural interests by reason of an export duty. The issue 
was finally settled by a compromise providing that Congress 
should have the right to regulate commerce, but no right to 
prohibit the slave trade for twenty years. As a concession to 
the Southern states export taxes or duties were forbidden. 

277. Fears After agreement upon the main features of the Constitution, 
the document was referred to various committees for perfection 
as to form. When it came back to the body for final adoption 
some of the members had given up in disgust and returned home. 
Gerry of Massachusetts and Randolph and Mason of Virginia 
refused to sign it on the ground that it was too centralized. 
Thirty-nine members of twelve states signed the document and 



of central! 
zation 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 221 

transmitted it to congress and to the various states to be acted 

upon by state conventions. 

The Constitution provides three departments of government 278, The 

— legislative, executive, and judicial. This plan was a result legislative, 

. 1.1 judicial, and 

of the desire to obviate the weakness of the Articles without executive 

endangering the rights of the states and the people through ^^'^^^^'""^ 
centralization. Each department is given power over the others 
and each is given a means of defense against the others. The 
president wields a negative power over legislation through the 
veto, and is subject to impeachment by Congress. Through 
the power of pardon he exercises a judicial function, and the 
justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by him. The 
legislative power is vested in Congress, and in the Senate's right 
to ratify or reject treaties and executive appointments that 
body holds a check upon the executive. The House, a body 
representing the majority of the people of all the states, wields 
the initiative in taxation. The Supreme Court and inferior 
courts exercise the judicial power, and whenever the Supreme 
Court declares a law unconstitutional, it exercises a power to 
defeat legislation. The arrangements here described make the 
government one of "checks and balances." When it is remem- 
bered that the framers of the Constitution had had recent 
experience with the concentration of power in the hands of 
royal governors, it is not surprising that they contrived a 
system that automatically checks the exercise of centralized 
functions. 

Congress was given jurisdiction over taxation, money, terri- 
tories, coinage, commerce, patents, copyrights, post-offices, and 
weights and measures, in addition to the powers exercised under 
the Articles of Confederation. The federal government was 
further strengthened with the power to enforce its will. When 
its law is disobeyed, it operates directly upon the individual 
citizen through its courts. It can declare unconstitutional a 
state law that involves the federal Constitution, and has the 
power to settle disputes between states. 

By the terms of the Constitution, when nine of the states 



2 22 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

.279. Oppo- should ratify it, it should go into efTcct "between the states so 

sition to the j.^j.jf jj^g the same." It is not difficult to explain why the 

Constitution ^ o . . _, • i , 

document met with so much opposition. The convention had 

exceeded its authority; large numbers of the people did not 
understand the weaknesses of the Confederation; some were 
suspicious of "these lawyers, and men of learning, and moneyed 
men that talk so finely and gloss over matters so smoothly," 
while the love of free local institutions was too deep in the hearts 
of a vast majority of the people for them to accept any set of 
measures that might endanger their liberties. Moreover, there 
was no Bill of Rights, as was found in most of the state consti- 
tutions with which the people were familiar. This omission 
looked suspicious to those who had just passed through so many 
years of conflict with centralized powers. 
280. Begin- Ui)on adjournment of the Convention its members returned to 

ning of their respective states, and for the most T)art became champions 
political ' ... -11 

parties; the of the Constitution. They organized for systematic work and 

discussion; i),_>gmi the Struggle for ratification. They astutely called them- 
eralist " selves " Federalists " with the purj^ose of conveying the idea that 
they favored the preservation of state rights, for the strongest 
opposition to the Constitution planted itself squarely upon the 
idea that too much power was being filched from the states. 
Among the leaders of the opposition were such Revolutionary 
I)atriots as Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, whose party 
naturally took the name of "Anti-Federalists." 

Each side, with pamphlets and speeches, solicited votes, and 
every detail of the Constitution was subjected to the severest 
criticism. The Senate would become, some thought, the seat 
of aristocracy, where the rights of the common man would be 
trampled under foot. The President, they feared, would de- 
velop into a despot no less odious than the one whose tyranny 
they had just escaped. The Supreme Court would become an 
Inquisition, destroying the life and liberty of the citizens. 

The opposition was somewhat mitigated by the promise of 
a Bill of Rights, which accordingly was drawn up and adopted 
immcdiatclv after the inauguration of the new government; 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 223 

this Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments, which 
are designed to protect the life and liljerty of the individual 
against the power of arbitrary government. 

Great influence upon the election was exerted by a series of 
papers issued from New York and known as The Federalist. 
Alexander Hamilton was the inspiring genius of these discus- 
sions, and he was ably seconded by James Madison and John 
Jay. Hamilton, who had little leaning toward a republic, 
supported the Constitution for the single reason that it was a 
stronger form of organization than the Articles, yet no abler or 
more effective arguments for the document were ever produced 
than his. 

The ratifying conventions, chosen by popular elections in 281. The 

the respective states, began to meet late in the autumn of 1787. state con- 
. ' o ^ / / ventions; 

In a short time Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, ratification 
and Connecticut had ratified in the order named. The contest 
in Massachusetts proved to be the crisis. The influence of 
John Hancock, who was president of the ratifying convention, 
was against the Constitution until a political change in his state 
held out to him the prospect of the governorship. Then, too, 
Massachusetts had a right to fear centralization, and she very 
positively insisted on a list of amendments. After dickerings 
and long debates the ratification measure was adopted (Febru- 
ary, 1788) by a vote of 187 to 168. This action on the part of 
Massachusetts turned the scales in favor of the Constitution, 
and Maryland followed in April, South Carolina in May, and 
New Hampshire, the ninth state, in June. 

Virginia was slow, though the new instrument was supported 
by Washington, Madison, and Edmund Randolph. By sub- 
mitting a long list of proposed amendments, Virginia ratified 
the Constitution June 25, 1788, by the close vote of 89 to 79. 

New York, likewise, was slow; but after a stubborn fight 
between Governor Clinton and Alexander Hamilton, the meas- 
ure succeeded in passing, by a vote of 30 to 27 on the next day 
after Virginia's ratification. 

The convention in North Carolina adjourned without rati- 



224 FORMING A GENERAL GOVERNMENT 

fication, but a second convention ratified on November 21, 
1780. Rhode Island held aloof until May 29, 1790. 

SUMMARY 

The development of the Anglo-Saxon (19) became very rapid in America. 
His inherent love of order, and especially of freedom, made him a fit instru- 
mentality for building an independent nation. The building process is seen 
at various times during the colonial period and much more clearly in the 
Revolutionary war. By 1776 the spirit of American nationality was being 
well developed, and it continued to grow with remarkable rapidity. While 
the war was going on, and more especially after it had been won, the general 
form of the American nation was being worked out. The colonies, still 
fearing despotic power, and still cherishing a local patriotism which had 
developed through long years of hardship, looked upon the weak central 
government in its formative period as the agent of the several states acting 
together. From 1776 to 1781, questions of war were more important than 
questions of peace. When a formidable enemy is at the door there is no 
time for debating constitutional law. The first results, therefore, of con- 
scious effort to frame an American government were extremely meager. 
So little power was given to the central government that as soon as the 
stress of war was removed and men turned their thought to civil affairs 
it became apparent that a stronger organization was necessary. Accord- 
ingly, a convention was called to meet in Philadelphia for the purpose of 
revising the Articles of Confederation. When it met in 1787 it threw the 
Articles overboard and constructed the Constitution. After much debate 
this document was adopted by a sufficient number of states to make 
it efTective, with the somewhat general proviso, expressed or tacit, that the 
states surrendered thereby none of their sovereignty. The spirit of union 
had thus worked out a form of government. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Show clearly how the .\lbany Congress (1754) was a preparation for inter- 
colonial union. 2. What influence did the public domain have upon the formation 
of the union? 3. Distinguish clearly between the spirit and the form of the union. 

4. Was the Confederation a more compact form of union than that existing in 1776? 

5. Why did the colonies construct such a weak form of government at first? 6. 
What were some of the weaknesses that became apparent soon after the Revolution 
closed? Why did they not become apparent before? 7. By what authority did 
the Constitutional Convention draw up a new fundamental law? 8. Why was the 
period from 1781 to 1780 a critical period? g. Were Samuel Adams and Patrick 
Henry consistent in opposing the adoption of the Constitution? 10. Would the 
Constitution have been adopted if its friends had advocated the abolition of 
state sovereignty? Give a reason for your answer. 



part III 

THE NATIONALIZING PROCESS — 1 789-1875 

CHAPTER XIII 
A CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Hart, Formation of the Union; Wilson, The American 
People, vol. iii; Bassett, Federalist System; Walker, Making of the Nation; Morse, 
Thomas Jefferson; Conant, Alexander Hamilton; Lodge, George Washington. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iii; MacDonald, Select 
Documents. 

Illustrative Material. — Brackenridge, Modern Chivalry. 

INTERNAL FACTORS IN THE CENTRALIZING 
PROCESS 

In the campaign for ratification, the advocates of the Con- 282. The 

stitution had promised to favor certain amendments to be fathers" 
'■ purpose to 

added so soon as the new government should be organized, uphold state 

Moreover, they wilKngly allowed the people to believe, if they "s^^^ 

did not intentionally lead them to believe, that in ratifying the 

Constitution they in no way sacrificed the sovereignty of their 

several states. There can be no doubt that if a great number 

of the voters had not so believed, the attempt to form a new 

government would have been defeated, and the Articles of 

Confederation would have remained an uncertain force for an 

uncertain time. Yet the two ideas which had divided the voters 

into two camps waged war upon each other as vigorously as 

ever. Those who had favored the Constitution now sought 

by a policy of "loose construction" to give to the government 

as much power as possible within the most liberal interpretation 

of that document, while their opponents, maintaining the 



226 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

contrary policy of a "strict construction" of the Constitution, 
demanded that the new government be limited in the exercise 
of power, in order to secure the people against oppression. 
The former party, known as Federalists, naturally attracted 
a large part of the aristocratic element of the country, while 
the latter party, known as Anti-Federalists, appealed especially 
to the common people, and to conservatives generally. 

283. The The basis upon which the conflict between the two ideas was 

people vs. a ^^ ^^ waged under the Constitution had been foreshadowed by 
privileged ° -' 

class the declarations of two of the foremost men of the times. In 

1787 John Adams had said in his studied Defense of the 
American Constitution that "the rich, the well born, and the 
able . . . must be separated from the mass and placed by them- 
selves in a senate." In the same year Thomas Jefferson wrote: 
"I am persuaded that the good sense of the people will always 
be found the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, 
but will soon correct themselves." It is not difficult to see in 
these assertions two distinct ideas and ideals of national organi- 
zation. Federalist doctrine carried to its logical conclusion 
meant government by the powerful class, while Anti-Federalist 
doctrine, as understood by the people at this time, meant decen- 
tralization and perhaps final dissolution. The adjustment, and 
possible reconciliation, of these two ideals of national organiza- 
tion was the task of the next three-quarters of a century or more. 
Nationality must take deeper root, if the American nation would 
be preserved; democracy must hold the reins of government, if 
the people would be secured in their rights. He would have 
been a prophet, indeed, who could ha\'e foreseen the outcome 
of the conflict — the democratized nationality of the twentieth 
century America. ^ 

284. The Washington received every vote of the electors, because he 
country ^^^g everywhere recognized as the logical man for the place. 
its first He had successfully led his country through the Re\'olution, 
President j^^^^j presided over the convention that formed the Constitution, 

^ These diflerences in political theory did not show themselves, however, in 
the first presidential election. 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



227 



and had been a wise and patriotic counsellor in all matters of 
public interest. His pure, strong, and well-balanced character 
marked him out as the man best fitted for the office. That 
he was a Virginia aristocrat and a very wealthy planter told 
perhaps in his favor with those who participated extensively 
at this time in governmental affairs, while his military renown 
attracted to his support the great numbers of people who had 
desired the success of the Revolution. It would perhaps be 
too much to say that he belonged to the Federalist party, yet 
he had strongly advocated the adoption of the Constitution. 
Though his great heart was so 
responsive to the needs of all 
humanity that he was in the 
large sense democratic, he was 
yet thoroughly convinced of the 
necessity of a stronger central 
government, and bent all his 
energies to making the federal 
power respected and obeyed. 
He was neither a profound 
scholar nor a political philoso- 
pher, in the sense in which that 
term is ordinarily used. His 
chief claim to the admiration of 
posterity is his seeing the needs of his country at that particular 
time and his having the courage to supply them to the extent 
of his ability. What better claim can statesmen wish? If he 
seemed to yield more to the advice of Hamilton than to that 
of Jefferson, it was because he felt the imperative necessity of 
making the federal government an effective instrument for the 
promotion of the public good. The elevation of such a man to 
the presidency of the new government went far toward creating 
confidence in its motives and its policies. 

According to the constitutional provision, the names of the 285. Adams 
candidates for president and vice-president were not segregated, f^^ HamU- 
and in the first election Alexander Hamilton became fearful tranged 




George Washington 



228 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

that Adams, who really desired the vice-presidency, might get 
more votes than Washington, and consequently become presi- 
dent. The scheme to prevent such result lessened the vote 
for Adams, who had never endangered Washington's election 
to the presidency, and caused a long and ugly estrangement 
between Adams and Hamilton. But Adams became vice-presi- 
dent, and thus a Federalist, a proud New England aristocrat 
by nature, was called to preside over the first Senate. 
286. Wash- The congress of the Confederation had set the first Wednesday 
au^uratioir ' "^ March, 1 789, as the time when the new Congress should con- 
his cabinet vene, count the votes of the presidential electors, and proceed 
to the inauguration of the new government. But on account 
of the difficulties of travel in those days. Congress did not 
assemble until the first week in April, and the inauguration 
of the president was delayed until April 30. Washington's 
journey to New York had been one continuous ovation to 
"Columbia's Savior," and on his arrival he was given an enthu- 
siastic reception by thousands of people from different parts 
of the country. The inaugural ceremonies were marked with 
solemn pomp and regal formality. The president's address 
breathed the same solemnity of spirit, though it clearly revealed 
a deep consciousness of responsibility. The whole occasion, 
like Washington's election, had the effect of increasing the 
national sentiment. 

In the meantime, the new Congress was already at work. 
After voting the president an annual salary of $25,000, a very 
large sum for those days, it proceeded to the organization of 
the executive departments. Thomas Jefferson became the first 
secretary of state, Henry Knox, the first secretary of war, 
Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, and 
Samuel Osgood, the first postmaster-general. The last named 
official was not considered a member of the cabinet, while the 
attorney-general was not at this time the head of any depart- 
ment, although he was constantly called into consultation with 
the president. These officers were appointed by the presi- 
dent and confirmed by the Senate, but, after a hard-fought 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



229 



battle, the president was given plenary power over removals.^ 
The duty of these officers is indicated in their respective titles, 
but they are expected also to advise with the president indi- 
vidually and collectively about all matters of administration. 
The president may or may not follow their advice. 

Article III of the Constitution directs: "The judicial power 287. The 
of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and ^" '^'^"^^ 




Steuben Gov A St Clair Sec'y S A Otib Roger Sherman Gov E Clinton. 
Chancellor R R Livingston John Adams Gen Henry Knox. 

George Washington. 

Washington t.aking the Oath as President, 
April 30, 1789 

in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and 
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, 
and shall, at all times, receive for their services, a compensation 
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office." 
Under the authority herein granted, Congress (September 
24, 1789) created the Supreme Court,- consisting of a chief- 

^ Congress has since created the ofSces of attorney general, secretary of the 
navy, secretary of the interior, secretary of agriculture, secretary of commerce, 
and secretary of labor. 

* There are (1913) nine judges on the supreme bench. 



23© CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

justice and five associate-justices, three Circuit Courts, and 
thirteen District Courts. The Supreme Court has final juris- 
diction over all infractions of the federal law, though cases may 
originate in the Federal District Court, may be appealed from 
this court to the Circuit Court, and from thence to the Supreme 
Court. Cases involving the federal law may be appealed from 
the highest state courts to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. It should be remembered, too, that it is the function 
of the Supreme Court to pass on the constitutionality of only 
such laws as are involved in cases brought before that body. 
288. The Congress kept faith with the people in the matter of the 

Bill of Rights pj.Qj^jggg jj^^jg ^y ^j^g advocates of the Constitution (280). 

Some four hundred proposed amendments to the Constitution 
were reduced to twelve, which were submitted to the states for 
ratification. The promptness with which ten of them were 
ratified by three-fourths of the states shows that there was 
uneasiness in the public mind as to the powers granted the new 
government. The amendments have been very appropriately 
styled a Bill of Rights, since they deal with such questions as 
trial by jury, freedom of the press and of speech, and such 
personal rights as had been trampled upon in previous days. 
Articles IX and X are especially significant. "The enumera- 
tion in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed 
to deny or disparage others retained by the people"; and "The 
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people," indicate how jealous were the 
people of their local independence. There could be no perma- 
nent union which did not cherish the principles of the Bill of 
Rights. Possibly the great majority of those who had voted 
for the ten amendments had been unconscious of the fact that 
in so voting they were encouraging a permanent nationality; 
indeed, their purpose was almost unfriendly to such result; they 
had in mind the limiting of arbitrary power, and not the per- 
petuation of the central government; necessarily, however, 
in achieving their conscious purpose, they were acting as in- 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



231 



strumentalities in the great work of development committed to 
the Anglo-Saxon "in the dark backward and abysm of time." 
The amendments became part of the Constitution, and the 
Union became dear to many who had formerly feared it. 

If in America it had ever been possible to avert a clash 289. Jeffer- 
between centralization and local self-government, the conflict ^°"^^^^*'" 
surely became inevitable when Alexander Hamilton was ap- democracy 
pointed secretary of the treas- 
ury, and Thomas Jefferson 
secretary of state. Each a dis- 
tinguished patriot, no two men 
ever more perfectly typified, in 
personality and in policy, two 
opposing ideas. Merely to say 
that Jefferson was the author 
of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence is to say that he was the 
greatest democrat of all the 
Revolutionary statesmen. He 
was perhaps the closest student 
of political literature and 
theories of government on the 

American continent. It is said that he could quote passage 
after passage from Locke, and that he lived in close touch 
with the great French school of philosophers, Rousseau being 
his favorite. It is no wonder that his heart was close to the 
people, though by birth he was an aristocrat. His attitude 
toward his fellow man and his political thinking are nowhere 
better reflected than in his inaugural address. Among other 
things he said : "All . . . will bear in mind this sacred principle, 
that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, 
that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority 
possess their equal rights which equal law must protect, and to 
violate would be oppression. . . . Sometimes it is said that 
man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can 
he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have 




Thomas Jefferson 



232 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

we found angels in the form of kings, to govern him? . . . 
Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital 
principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, 
the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; . . . the 
diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the 
bar of public reason; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press; 
and freedom of person, under the protection of the Habeas 
Corpus . . . these principles . . . should be the creed of our 
political faith, the test of civic instruction, the touchstone by 
which to try the services of those we trust." 
290. Hamil- In vivid contrast to Jefferson was the great secretary of the 
ton's lean- treasury. Hamilton was personally attractive, quick, shrewd, 

incfs towflxd *. *f 

monarchy and self-reliant. He possessed natural administrative ability, 
and was the greatest public financier that America has pro- 
duced. He brought with him to the cabinet a wealth of 
experience in the Revolution, in the practice of law, and in 
the congress of the Confederation. An able advocate of the 
adoption of the Constitution, he yet had little confidence in 
popular government, and little interest in the aspirations of 
mankind. To him, government by the people was no govern- 
ment at all. Perhaps if his real political philosophy could be 
known he would be found at heart a monarchist. He fought 
for the ratification of the Constitution because it offered a 
stronger system of government than the Articles provided, 
and was the nearest approach to centralization possible at that 
time. His own words may best exhibit his character: "Per- 
haps no man . . . has sacrificed or done more for the present 
Constitution than myself; and, contrary to all my anticipa- 
tions of its fate ... I am still laboring to prop the frail 
and worthless fabric. . . . Every day proves to me more 
and more this American world was not made for me." Again, on 
one occasion he declared: "Sir, your people is a great beast." 
With such differing convictions, and each with the courage 
to press them, it was impossible that Jefferson and Hamilton 
should not fight from the moment the new government was 
launched; while it was equally sure from the beginning that 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 233 

the contest would be waged around the fundamental question 
of the powers that the federal government ought to exercise. 

Perhaps the first serious matter to confront the new govern- 291. The 
ment was one that belonged primarily in Hamilton's department. ^^"°y^ ^7 
It was the question of finances. The United States owed a ficuity; the 
foreign debt of $11,000,000 and a domestic debt of $40,000,000, *" 
increasing at a high rate of annual interest, and there was no 
money in the treasury. The credit of the country, both at 
home and abroad, was extremely poor, while the certificates 
of the domestic debt were below par. Business was unsettled, 
as was natural in a period which saw the first stages of govern- 
ment in what the world called an untried experiment. 

To meet the conditions, Hamilton laid before Congress a 
series of plans, which for the rnost part found their way in 
substance to the federal statute books. The first of his pro- 
posal, a scheme which he hoped would pay the interest on the 
public debt and defray the current expenses of the government, 
dealt with import duties. Before he came into office. Congress 
had passed the first Tariff Act in the history of the United 
States (July 4, 1789). The debates over this measure contain 
arguments very similar to those which have been used pro and 
con on this question from that day until this. Some wanted to 
protect "our infant manufactures," particularly Massachusetts.^ 
South Carolina feared "oppression" from such a policy, and 
had the sympathy of other states. The bill as finally passed 
provided for an ad valorem duty on several articles, averaging 
about eight per cent, and a specific duty on others. The rate 
was looked upon as rather high at the time, and no doubt the 
manufacturers were jubilant over their initial victory, a mere 
foretaste of what was to follow, for although the tariff schedules 
have had attention constantly ever since, the average rate has 
never again been so low. The measure brought an inadequate 

' Some wished "to give great encouragement to the establishment of manufac- 
tures, by laying such partial duties on the importation of foreign goods, as to give 
the home manufactures a considerable advantage in price when brought to market." 
They believed "it both politic and just that the fostering hand of the general 
government should extend to all those manufactures which tend to national utility." 



tion' 
1794 



234 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

revenue, so the next year, and again in 1792, upon the recom- 
mendation of Hamilton, the duties were raised. 

292. Hamil- To supplement the tariff revenue and to exert the power of 
"°widV^^ the federal government, Hamilton induced Congress (March 3, 
Insurrec- 1791) to lay an excise on whiskey. The tax was low and did 

not bring a great amount of revenue at best, while it bore heavily 
upon the Western frontiersmen, with whom whiskey was the 
chief medium of exchange,^ and, therefore, affected not only 
the distillers, but every man in the whole Western country. 
Through public gatherings the people protested against the 
tax, and in many instances threatened and intimidated the 
revenue collectors. On July 17, 1794, matters came to a crisis 
in southwestern Pennsylvania, when a mob attacked and 
burned the house of Inspector General Neville. Then came 
Hamilton's opportunity to show the ability of the new govern- 
ment to cope with difficulties. Accordingly, under the direc- 
tion of Washington, he accompanied an army of 13,000 
militia gathered from Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, and 
Pennsylvania, over the mountains to the scene of the troubles. 
The army met with no resistance, and soon returned home. 
Some of the leaders of the insurrection were arrested, tried, 
and convicted, but were soon pardoned by the president. 

293. Demo- In a message to Congress, Washington made unfriendly 

crats call references to certain classes of citizens who by continued 
themselves ■' 

Republicans agitation fomented insurrections and encouraged "suspicions, 

jealousies, and accusations of the whole government." He 
evidently had in mind the democratic clubs that were formed 
under French influence. To avoid the possible reflection that 
might come through the identity of names, Jefferson's associates 
began to call themselves Republicans. 

In the meantime, Hamilton had been working on the finan- 
cial question along another line. It was generally agreed that 
foreign obligations should be paid in full. Hamilton proposed 

^ " Western Pennsylvania at this time was primarily an aRricultural region. The 
principal crop was corn. Transportation was diflficuit and markets were remote. 
To dispose of their surplus grain, therefore, the farmers converted much of it into 
whiskey, which was used as a standard of value to take the place of money." 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 235 

to discharge the domestic debt in the same liberal fashion, 294. Hamil- 
paying to the holders of the certificates their face value. This 1°° ^ }"f^ 
would have been acceptable to the interested parties but for policy; the 
the fact that many of these certificates were no longer in the ^^^ ^.^^"®'^* 
hands of the original holders and had depreciated in value, tions 
Hamilton's plan, therefore, was attacked on the ground that it 
would not be fair to the original owners of such certificates, and 
Madison proposed that the government pay the legal holder 
the amount of his investment, and that the difference between 
this amount and the face value of the certificates be paid to the 
original holders. But Hamilton insisted that the government's 
credit must be strengthened, and that Congress could strengthen 
it only by paying par value for all outstanding certificates by 
whomsoever held. He won his contention before Congress, and 
government securities began to rise. 

Hamilton now went a long step farther and proposed the 295. The 
assumption of state debts. This plan was supported on the ^?^"™^^'°° 
ground that these debts were incurred in a common cause debts 
against Great Britain and should, therefore, be paid for out of 
the common treasury. It was opposed on the groimd that 
some of the states — notably Virginia — had discharged a part 
of their debts, and that it would be an injustice to them to 
make them assist in paying all the debts • of the others. A 
more fundamental objection, perhaps, was the fear that cen- 
tralization was implied in the proposal. The measure would 
have carried but for the arrival of the members of Congress 
from North Carolina, that state having but recently ratified 
the Constitution. Fortunately for the measure, it now became 
bound up in the controversy over the federal capital. It was 
soon ascertained that a small majority in Congress favored 
establishing the permanent capital somewhere in the North 
— preferably, perhaps, in Pennsylvania. To this the South, 
Virginia especially, was strongly opposed.^ Hamilton saw the 

' The issue became so vital that one member declared: "The question is to be 
settled which must determine whether this government is to exist for ages, or be 
dispersed among contending winds." 



236 



CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 



struction 
and 

" implied 
powers " 



opportunity; he proposed to Jefferson a compromise: the South 
should have the capital, if she would vote for the assumption 
of the state debts; and the compromise was effected, Jefferson 
influencing enough Virginia votes to turn the scales in favor 
of Hamilton's assumption measure, and Hamilton obtaining 
enough Northern votes to place the capital in the South. ^ The 
great treasurer had won a,gain in his nationalizing process, j 
296. The Perhaps the most important of all Hamilton's measures, and 

bank- ^^^^ which did most to draw the lines of demarcation between 

" loose con- the two fields of political thought, was the proposal to establish 
a national bank. In support of the measure, he urged that it 
would furnish the government an easy and effective method of 
collecting and disbursing the public moneys, and that it would 
improve business conditions through loans to business men. 
Of course he could see that it would tend to make the business 
interests of the country subservient to the federal government, 
and would, therefore, greatly contribute to his general purpose 
of centralization. When the bill had passed both houses over 
stubborn opposition by Madison and others who believed with 
him, and had come to the president for his signature, Washington 
called for the written opinion of his cabinet. Jefferson opposed 
the measure on the ground that the Constitution did not 
give Congress the power to charter banks, and that according 
to the tenth amendment all powers not specifically delegated to 
Congress by the Constitution were reserved to the states or to 
the people respectively. Hamilton, on the other hand, argued 
that the Constitution conferred such a power upon Congress 
because it authorized that body "to make all laws which shall 
be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the fore- 
going powers," "to lay and collect taxes," and "to pay the 
debts" of the federal government. In other words, he asserted 
that such power was "implied" even if not definitely granted. 
His doctrine of "loose construction" fitted in well with the 
Hamiltonian idea of government, for it gave to the central 
power extensive discretion in the exercise of its functions, while 

* A few months later President Washington chose the site on the Potomac. 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



237 



the opposite doctrine of "strict construction" was no less 
compatible with Jefferson's democratic view that people should 
be protected against the tyranny of arbitrary government. 
Henceforward there were two well-defined political parties 
in the United States, and, in a way, they have continued to 
fight over the poli- 
cies and principles 
developed in this 
bank controversy. 
Washington 
agreed with Ham- 
ilton, signed the 
measure, and the 
national banking 
system came into 
being. The cen- 
tral bank was 
established at 
Philadelphia, and 
eight branch 

banks were opened in other cities. The system was capitalized 
at $10,000,000, the United States government owning one-fifth 
of the stock. Another step had been taken toward the fulfil- 
ment of Hamilton's scheme of centralization. 




Bank of the United States, 1797 



EXTERNAL FACTORS IN CENTRALIZATION 

While Jefferson and Hamilton were contending over the 

meaning of the Constitution, thousands of immigrants were 297. Growth 

building homfes in the fertile valleys of the Ohio, the Cumber- °^ ^^^ ^^^* 

^ 111 promotes 

land, the Tennessee, the Wabash, and the Maumee. The nationality 

Ordinance of 1787 (268) had provided for the organization of 
the Northwest Territory into states under certain conditions. 
In 1790 Congress passed an act which made possible the organi- 
zation of the "Territory South of the Ohio." Population now 
increased rapidly. Vermont was admitted in 1791, and three 
new states west of the Alleghanies came into the Union near the 



238 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

close of the century — Kentucky in 1792, Tennessee in 1798, and 
Ohio in 1803, while Indiana Territory was organized in 1800. 
In dealing with all this region Congress found abundant oppor- 
tunity for gaining power and using it. 

The receding frontier had brought inevitable conflict vnih 
the Indians. Both the legislative and executive departments 
continually endeavored to prevent friction by enacting laws and 
making treaties of peace that sought to segregate the two races 
as much as possible. Despite their efforts, however, war broke 
out in 1789, and the troops under General Harmer were twice 
defeated. Two years later, General St. Clair was surprised and 
defeated, and his army almost annihilated, at Fort Recovery. 
The administration was greatly exasperated, and committed 
to Mad Anthony Wayne the duty of regaining the ascendancy. 
After his victory over the Indians at Maumee, the government 
was able to secure a treaty by which eastern and southern 
Ohio were left in undisturbed possession of the whites. Other 
uprisings of Indians in different parts of the West were put 
down in the same way, the government in each case dictating 
the terms of peace. It is not difficult to see that the frontier 
was unconsciously, but none the less surely, doing its part in 
the process of nationalization. 
298. Wash- The closing months of Washington's first administration * 
ington be- -^ygj-e full of anxiety over foreign complications which widened 
second term; the gulf between Federalists and Democrats, and made clearer 
J^^'if'^'^® °^the principles which each party advocated. The French 
Revolution Revolution had broken out in 1789 and France was under- 
going a tremendous political, social, economic, and intellectual 
transformation that involved all Europe. The ntovement was 
essentially democratic and, although it occasioned unpardonable 
excesses, in most respects it contended for the same issues that 
had been at stake at Lexington and had been won at Yorktown. 
The monarchy was abolished in the autumn of 1792, and the 
king was executed in the following January. The democracy 

^ Washington had been reelected without opposition in 1792, and began his 
second term on March 4, 1793. 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 239 

of France delighted the great mass of American citizens, but 
spread consternation throughout the Old World and led to a 
coalition of European powers against the new republic. 

Early in April, 1793, news reached America that England and 
France were at war, A wave of popular good-will to France 
swept from Georgia to New York, and would have drawn 
America into war but for the wise and firm policy of Washington 
and his cabinet. On April 12, the president requested the 
secretary of state and the secretary of the treasury to consider 
the question of the proper relation of the United States govern- 
ment to the affairs of Europe. A week later, at a meeting of 
the cabinet, it was unanimously agreed that the United States 
"should with sincerity and good faith, adopt and pursue a 
conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers." 
Even Jefferson, who had been United States Minister to France 
in the early days of the Revolution, and who knew how to 
appreciate the efforts of French democracy, and whose party 
was almost to a man in sympathy with the Revolution, was 
firmly of the opinion that " the young republic, as yet without 
assured power or established friendships in the world, its own 
government still in its first stages of experiment, must stand 
neutral in European wars." ^ Hamilton, whose party was par- 
ticularly strong in the commercial districts, leaned perceptibly 
toward England and regarded with abhorrence the subversive 
character of the Revolution. If he had previously distrusted 
popular government, he now saw positive proof that it led 
unmistakably to anarchy. He therefore wished to break with 
France by renouncing our treaties, which had been formed in 
the days of the Revolutionary war, regarding trade and the 
defense of the French West Indies. He took the position that 
since these agreements had been made with the French mon- 
archy which had lately been abolished, they were no longer 
binding. This view harmonized beautifully enough with 
Hamilton's monarchistic ideas, which exalted governors at the 
expense of the governed. However, he was perhaps in a measure 

^ Woodrow Wilson, .4 Ilislory of the A merican People. 



240 



CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 



299. Neu- 
trality pro- 
clamation 
displeases 
France ; 
Citizen 
Genet 



driven to this extreme position by the conviction "that, if these 
gentlemen [referring to Madison and Jefferson] were left to 
pursue their own course, there would be, in less than six months, 

AN OPEN WAR BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GrEAT 

Britain." He could see in Jefferson only "a man electrified 
plus with attachment to France," and he told a friend that 
"they [Madison and Jefferson] forget . . . that it is much 
easief to raise the devil than to lay him." But to renounce 
our treaties with France because they had been made with a 
previous and essentially different administration, was utterly 
repulsive to Jefferson's democratic sympathies, which looked 
upon government as the agent of the people. He felt that 
covenant relations had been entered into with the French 
people and not with any particular form of government; a 
change, therefore, from monarchy to republic in no way dimin- 
ished obligations in the matter. Jefferson was ably supported 
in this view by Randolph, and this phase of America's relations 
with Europe went unsettled for the time. 

The neutrality proclamation, issued April 26, 1793, greatly 
disappointed the French revolutionists, and was a prime factor 
in producing an estrangement between the two countries that 
led to hostilities a few years later. It committed the United 
States to a foreign policy of non-interference with European 
affairs, and thereby set a precedent that has saved the American 
people a tremendous amount of trouble. 

France now sent her Citizen Genet as minister to the United 
States. Immediately after landing he began to court the 
democratic element of the people with a view of obtaining 
assistance for the French revolutionists. He succeeded in 
arousing enthusiasm throughout the country and began organiz- 
ing democratic clubs, modeled after the Jacobin clubs of Paris. 
He even went so far in his misguided efforts as to raise volun- 
teers, commission officers, and plan an expedition against New 
Orleans, then belonging to Spain. Contrary to the advice and 
admonition of Jefferson, he sent out from Philadelphia a well- 
equipped cruiser, and thus lost the respect of those who at 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



241 



first had received him with favor. He was at length recalled 
by France, but did not return to that country because, doubt- 
less, he feared the violence of the French government. The 
incident had intensified party feeling in America, the Hamil- 
tonians reproachfully calling their opponents " Democrats," after 
the French terrorists, and the party of Jefferson calling the 
Hamiltonians " the British party." 

But if the neutrality proclamation disappointed France, it 300. 
in no wise won the friendship of Great Britain. The treaty .°^^^^^ 
of Paris (1783), had supposedly settled all troubles between the Great 
United States and the mother country, but as a matter of *^^ 
fact there had not been strict compliance with this treaty by 
either party. Great Britain still retained numerous posts in 
the Northwest, and had violated her agreement relative to the 
removal of slaves. The United States had failed to lend assist- 
ance to the British in the collection of debts incurred by the 
colonists before the. Revolution. 
To all these irritants was now 
added that of the impressment of 
American sailors. British men-of- 
war habitually seized American 
vessels, confiscated their goods, 
and forced their seamen to enter 
the British service. Because of 
racial identity, it was sometimes* 
difficult to establish the illegality 
of the act. In addition to all 
these causes of friction both 
France and Great Britain had 
taken the position that provisions 

were contraband of war; i.e., subject to seizure without legal 
process. This, with other restrictions upon American com- 
merce, had practically closed the doors to the shipping interests 
of America. Feeling was at white heat over the situation 
when Washington appointed Chief Justice John Jay special 
commissioner to Great Britain to arrange a settlement. 




John Jay 



242 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

301. Jay's After months of tedious diplomacy, Jay concluded a treaty 
treaty; (November, 1794) to the effect that Great Britain would aban- 
France don, on June i, 1796, all posts within the territory of the United 

States and would refer to a commission the matter of boundary 
disputes and compensation for slaves. Nothing was accom- 
plished with respect to the impressment controversy. Jay's 
treaty was distinctly unsatisfactory to many Americans, and 
particularly so to the commercial and industrial interests. 
Jay was burned in effigy and Washington was made the target 
of the most stinging criticism, so that he declared he "would 
rather be in his grave than in the presidency." After a bitter 
fight, however, the Senate, June 24, 1795, ratified the treaty by 
the required majority, the vote standing 20 to 10. The treaty 
had three important results: (i) it postponed an inevitable 
conflict with Great Britain; (2) it greatly weakened the I^deralist 
party; (3) it renewed French antagonism to the United States. 
It was this last result which became immediately important. 

France was so irritated over the establishment of peace with 
the British that she no longer courted America. In February, 
1796, James Monroe, minister to France, was notified that the 
Jay treaty had abrogated the French treaties with the United 
States. A few months later, the commission of the French 
minister to the United States was revoked; still, the minister 
remained in an unofficial capacity and tampered with the 
elections which were being held in the autumn. 

302. Presi- Washington announced his unwillingness to serve longer as 
president, and there was a strict party fight between Adams, the 
P'cderalist candidate, and Jeff'erson, the Republican, or Demo- 
cratic, candidate. A break was showing in the Federalist ranks 
between Hamilton and Adams, the former advocating the elec- 
tion to the presidency of Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina, 
the Federalist candidate for vice-president. Moreover, the 
French government, and i^articularly its ministry, endeavored 
to turn the election in favor of the Republicans. These in- 
fluences, together with Adams's naturally aristocratic bearing, 
came near to defeating the Federalist party at the polls — the 



dential elec 
tion — 1796 



THE CENTRALIZING PROCESS 



243 



vote standing in the electoral college: Adams 71, Jefferson 68, 
and Pinckney 59. Adams thus became president and Jefferson 
vice-president. 

The results of the election added to the anger of France, 303. Effect 
already kindled by the Jay treaty, and that nation now became J° France of 
more active in the seizure of American vessels. James Monroe, 
a Virginia Republican, who was 
United States minister to France 
at the time, and who was expected 
to do something to placate the 
French, seemed to be in sympathy 
with the policy of the Directory, 
the governing power of the French 
republic, and was accordingly re- 
called by Washington in August, 
1796, C. C. Pinckney being sent in 
his place. Relations with France 
were becoming so difficult that 
Washington, in his farewell ad- 
dress, advised his countrymen that 
it was "our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances 
with any portion of the foreign world." In the meantime 
the Directory had refused to receive any more American 
ambassadors as long as the United States government pursued 
its present unfriendly course toward the French republic. 

When President Adams received the news of the action of the 304. The 

French Directory, he sent over John Marshall, Elbridge Gerry, y^^'^"^ ^' 

and C. C. Pinckney as a commission to reestablish friendly tilities with 

relations with France. On arri\dng at Paris they were met by^*"*""' * 

" _ / ■' new treaty 

agents of the Directory, who opened negotiations, and soon— 1800 
demanded money "for the pockets of the Directory and minis- 
ters," and thus directly insulted the American embassy.^ The 
news of the attempted bribery brought about a distinct revulsion 
of feeling in the United States, and the people approved Presi- 

' The state department at Washington referred to the persons making the 
attempt as X. Y. Z. 




John Adams 



244 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

dent Adams when he declared in a message to Congress, June 
27, 1798: "I will never send another minister to France with- 
out assurance that he will be received, respected, and honored 
as becomes the representative of a great, free, powerful, and 
independent nation." 

Preparations for war were immediately begun, and Washing- 
ton was made commander-in-chief. A navy department was 
created, and American vessels were authorized to seize French 
cruisers.^ 

Actual hostilities had begun before Talleyrand, the virtual 
head of the French government, seeing the unpopularity of 
his policy in France, hinted in 1799 that his country would 
receive a minister from the United States and attempt amicable 
settlement. 

By the time the commissioners arrived, in April, 1800, the 
French Directory had been supplanted by the Consulate of 
Napoleon Bonaparte, and the two powers now concluded an 
agreement by which peaceful relations were restored, release 
from the old treaties granted, and an understanding reached as 
to the rights of neutrals and belligerents. Compensation for 
French aggressions upon United States commerce could not 
be obtained, but on the whole the treaty greatly augmented 
America's prestige abroad, while it increased her own people's 
respect for their national government. 

THE DECLINE OF THE FEDER.\LISTS 

305. The The foreign relations of the United States had the effect of 
'®" ^ ^ widening the breach between the two leading parties in the 
country, while division had arisen between the leading Federal- 
ists themselves. The retirement of Washington had greatly 
raised the center of ])olitical gravity, and the Federalists, under 
the tactless leadership of Adams, had begun a very unwise 
domestic policy with purpose to discredit their opponents, the 
Republicans. 

* The French frigate Vengeance fell a prey to the American frigate Constellation, 
and the Berceau to the Boston. 



THE DECLINE OF THE FEDERALISTS 245 

The conduct of France had brought about such a revulsion 
of feehng that Congress in 1798 passed the AHen and Sedition 
Acts, measures plainly aimed at the Republican party. 

The first of the series of laws was the Naturalization Act 
(June 18, 1798), raising from five to fourteen years the period 
of residence before naturalization. 

The second law was the AHen Friends Act (June 25, 1798), 
which authorized the president to order any such aliens in time 
of peace as he should judge to be "dangerous to the peace and 
safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to 
suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations 
against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory 
of the United States"; and provided further that "in case any 
alien, so ordered to depart, shall be found at large within the 
United States after the time limited in such order of departure, 
and not having obtained a license from the president . . . shall, 
on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 
three years, and shall never after be admitted to become a 
citizen of the United States." 

The third act, the Alien Enemies Act (July 6, 1798), provided 
that "Whenever there shall be a declared war between the 
United States and any foreign nation or government ... all 
natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or 
government, being males of the age of fourteen years and 
upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not actu- 
ally naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, 
secured and removed, as alien enemies." 

Finally, the Sedition Act, passed July 14, 1798, provided that 306. The 
"if any persons shall unlawfully combine or conspire together, ^®'^'*'°" ^*^* 
with intent to oppose any measure, or measures, of the govern- 
ment of the United States . . . and if any person or persons 
. . . shall counsel, advise, or attempt to procure any insurrec- 
tion, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination ... he or they 
shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor and on conviction . . . 
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, 
and by imprisonment during a term of not less than six months 



246 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

nor exceeding five years." It was further provided that "if 
any person shall write, print, utter, or publish . . . any false, 
scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the gov- 
ernment of the United States, or the President of the United 
States, with intent to defame . . . then such person, being 
thereof convicted . . . shall be punished by a fine not exceed- 
ing two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding 
two years." 

This last measure was aimed primarily against the Republican 
press, which had been especially virulent, and which to a con- 
siderable extent was edited by foreigners. While the Alien Acts 
were very rarely enforced, if enforced at all, they brought about 
the emigration of a few foreigners who were unwilling to suffer 
humiliation or undergo any risk of persecution. The Sedition 
Act was brought to bear against Republican editors in a few 
instances, but every attempt at enforcement only multiplied 
Republicans at the expense of the Federalist party. 
307. The The Republican reply to this series of Federalist attacks is 
and Virginia ^^^^ represented in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 
Resolutions; drawn by Madison and Jefferson respectively. On November 
s a e ng s ^^^ 1798, the Kentucky legislature "resolved that the several 
states composing the United States of America are not united 
on the principle of unlimited submission to their general gov- 
ernment; but that by compact under the style and title of the 
Constitution of the United States and of amendments thereto, 
they constituted a general government for special purposes, 
delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, 
each state to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own 
self-government; and that whensoever the general government 
assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, 
and of no force," and further that the Alien and Sedition Acts 
were unconstitutional and hence, "utterly void, and of no 
force." 

A few days later the Virginia legislature passed a similar 

measure, and the next year Kentucky took more definite and 

' aggressive action by declaring "that the several states who 



THE DECLINE OF THE FEDERALISTS 247 

formed that instrument [the Constitution], being sovereign and 
independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of the 
infraction [of that instrument]; and that a nuUification, by these 
sovereignties, of all unauthorized acts done under color of that 
instrument, is the rightful remedy." These acts also called 
upon the other states to join in a similar declaration against 
federal usurpation, but a majority of the replies were out of 
harmony with the resolutions. Nevertheless, Madison and 
Jefferson had put clearly before the country their theories of 
constitutional government, and had turned the tide of public 
thought against Federalist policies. 

Hamilton's two attempts to thwart Adams's aspiration forsOS. Presi- 
the presidency had produced an irreparable breach in the ^^"*^' ®^^*^" 
Federalist party, yet Adams was renominated by his party and 
made a stubborn fight for reelection. Jefferson and Aaron Burr 
were the Republican candidates for president and vice-president 
respectively. The Republicans carried the election by a vote 
of 73 to 65. But since Jeiferson and Burr had each received 73 
votes there was a tie, and the election now went to the House 
of Representatives voting by states. The Federalists held a 
majority of the states; compelled by the Constitution to elect 
Jefferson or Burr, they threatened to elect Burr in order to 
disconcert the Republicans, who had intended to elect Jefferson 
president. Hamilton now used his influence for Jefferson, the 
" choice of two evils," he thought. Upon the thirty-sixth ballot, 
Jefferson was chosen president by a vote of ten states to six. 
This crisis, in which the plain wishes of a majority of the people 
came so near being defeated, led the Republican administration 
to propose the twelfth amendment (ratified 1804) to the Con- 
stitution, by which the president and vice-president are voted 
for separately. 

For three months after the election Adams and his Federalist 309. The 

Congress still held the reins of government. They were not " n^>|li"glit 

. . appomt- 

negligent of their opportunity. Regarding Jefferson as "auments" 

atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics" and believing 

''democracy to be the government of the worst" and its advo- 



248 CONFLICT OF NATIONAL IDEALS 

cates "Jacobins and miscreants," the Federalists perhaps felt 
that they would do their country service by building as many 
buttresses as possible against the supposed radicalism of the 
incoming administration. Accordingly they rushed through 
Congress the Judiciary Act (February 13, 1801) by which the 
number of federal judicial officers was greatly increased and out 
of all proportion to actual needs. The president proceeded to 
fiU these new offices, as well as all others that by any decent 
method could be made vacant, with loyal partisans. It is said 
that he sat up until midnight on March 3, signing commissions 
for the newly appointed Federalist officeholders and then left 
the capital early the next day without so much as attending 
the inauguration or making formal transfer of the office to his 
Republican successor. It was a characteristic performance, 
revealing again that the Federalist party could not bring itself 
to believe in the capacity of the people to govern. 

The Republicans had fought twelve years for such an inter- 
pretation of the Constitution as would guarantee to the states 
and the people reasonable protection from centraUzed power 
in the hands of Federalists. It remained to be seen how they 
would use their victory. 

SUMMARY 

The adoption of the Constitution had purposely made the federal tie 
much stronger (chiefly through the powers conferred upon the executive), 
though the states made it plain in most cases that they were not surrender- 
ing their sovereignty. The spirit of democracy ran strong throughout the 
land and yet the necessities of the hour made mandatory a stronger national 
government. It was all but inevitable, therefore, that a conflict should 
arise over the interpretation of the Constitution and the functions of gov- 
ernment. Around two central ideas, aristocracy and democracy, there 
were formed the Federalist and .\nti-Federalist parties representing prin- 
ciples of government that have adhered to our [lolitical system from that 
time until this. President Washington, with leanings distinctly toward 
the Federalists, succeeded in maintaining the political balance for eight 
years. He gave the country poise, strength, dignity (its greatest needs at 
the time), though he did not reconcile the conflicting ideals of government. 
He was succeeded in the presidency by a man far less capable than he, and 



THE DECLINE OF THE FEDERALISTS 249 

the tide of democracy raised the people's party to power. The national- 
izing process had been given a strong impulse; to make it most effective 
through harmony, it must now be democratized. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. How did the term Federalist originate? 2. What is meant by "loose con- 
struction"? How did the Federalists justify their doctrine of "implied powers"? 
3. Show the harmony between the doctrines of "strict construction" and state 
rights. 4. When and how did the tariff policy of the United States originate? 
5. What trait of character do you discern in Washington's management of the 
first cabinet? 6. Wherein did Hamilton's contention that our treaties with France 
were no longer binding reflect his political theories? 7. Make a hst of evidences 
that Hamihon believed in centralized government. 8. The location of the national 
capital was th^ result of a trade between Hamilton and Jefferson. Do you hear of 
similar things in politics today? Is it good statesmanship? 9. Why were Ham- 
ilton and Jefferson always "pitted against each other like cocks in a pit"? 10. 
Was Washington's neutrality proclamation wholly wise? Give reason for your 
answer. 11. What effect did Washington's retirement have upon political par- 
ties? 12. How did the frontier contribute to the nationalizing process, or aid the 
forces of centralization? 13. Which of the great leaders of this period stood near- 
est the principles for which the American Revolution was fought? 14. What was 
going on in Europe during the early days of our Republic? 15. What was the 
cause of the decline of the Federalist party? 16. How was the Sedition Act con- 
trary to the spirit of free institutions? 17. How did the X. Y. Z. affair affect the 
standing of the United States among the nations? How did it affect the attitude of 
the people in this country toward their national government? 18. Would Jefferson's 
political theories have been practicable before iSoi? 



CHAPTER XIV 
GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Walker, Making of the Nation; Mace, Method in 
History; tiart, Formaliou of the Union; Wilson, American People, vol. iii; Schurz, 
Henry Clay; Dewey, Financial History; McMaster, United Ulales, vol. iii; Babcock, 
Rise of American Nationality. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iii; MacDonald, Select Docu- 
ments. 

Illustrative Material. — Cunningham, Paul Jones; Percival, Perry's Vic- 
tory on Lake Erie; Key, Star Spangled Banner; Holmes, Old Ironsides. 

JEFFERSON'S POLICIES 

310. The In spite of the twelve constructive, centralizing years of the 
first Demo-^ administrations of Washington and John Adams, the country 
dent — 1801 had elected as the exponent of its political philosophy the man 
who had inspired the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 (307). 
In the political nomenclature of the time, the newly elected 
president was a Federal Republican; in later days Jefferson 
came to be thoroughly recognized as the first great Democrat. 
He believed that development comes from within, if it comes 
at all, and he believed that it comes. That the people should be 
trusted to govern themselves was his cardinal political doctrine, 
and he contended with the utmost sincerity that the power of 
government is just as safe in the hands of the common man as 
in the hands of the aristocrat, provided always that there be an 
equality of intelligence. Moreover, Jefferson's democracy was 
such as would give the individual the greatest possible freedom 
and limit the power of government to the narrowest functions 
consistent with the good of the governed. His idea of the powers 
of government is given in one sentence of his inaugural address : 
"The sum of good government is a wise and frugal government 



JEFFERSON'S POLICIES 251 

which shall restrain men from injuring one another and leave 
them otherwise free to regulate their own affairs." 

The official and social manner of Washington, as well as of 311. D©mo- 
Adams, had been largely patterned upon the form and ceremony "^^^^ ^*™" 
which had been cherished by the royal governors. Each had 
ridden to and from the capitol in a carriage of state, emblazoned 
with a coat-of-arms and drawn by richly caparisoned horses 
more numerous than profitable, while servants in livery attended 
with the obsequious deference quietly but peremptorily de- 
manded by aristocratic usage. And then came Jefferson, he 
also of an aristocratic family, cultivated, refined, learned, 
distinguished, and more than all, able, and he quietly threw off 
the shackles of monarchical custom; he walked to the capitol 
for his inauguration; rode his horse afterward to and from his 
lodging, and tied his horse under a shed. 

In harmony with his democratic ideas, the new president 312. Jeffer- 

began at once the reform of abuses which had been committed ^°^'^. ^°".. 

. , 1 T . , . mestic policy 

m the period between his election and the retirement of his pred- 
ecessor. The superfluous courts which the defeated Federal- 
ists had created in order that places might be found for outgoing 
ofiiceholders were promptly abolished by law, and an honest 
endeavor was made to fill all necessary offices with serviceable 
men, without regard to party affiliation, so that a considerable 
minority of the officials appointed under his direction were 
found to belong to the party opposing him. Not only honesty, 
as shown in the impeachment of federal judges for incompetency 
and drunkenness, but economy also distinguished the new 
administration. Confident of the correctness of his political 
philosophy in its decision that oppression rather than liberty 
gave rise to sedition, he reduced the standing army. What 
need of a great number of soldiers to compel right-minded men 
to do right? A force of 2500 men could garrison the forts on the 
frontier and keep the Indians in awe; as for American citizens, 
an attempt to awe them would be an insult and would cause 
them to hate a government of which they should naturally be 
proud. So the army was reduced by almost half, and the navy 



252 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

from twenty-five ships to seven; and though the excise laws 
of Adams's administration were repealed, thus decreasing the 
revenue, under Jefferson's economizing policy, the national 
debt was reduced from $83,000,000 to $45,000,000. 
313. Jeffer- Evidently, with such an army and such a navy, it was 
son's foreign jg^gj.gQj^'g policy to Cultivate an "honest friendship" with all 
foreign powers. That he did not fully succeed was owing to 
European wars conducted on a most enormous scale, and fre- 
quently in defiance of the laws of nations. And yet Jefferson's 
foreign troubles were few; he was compelled to take action 
in the Tripoli matter, but he succeeded in averting war with 
France and in acquiring from Napoleon a domain greater than 
was the United States when he became president; and he also 
succeeded in postponing inevitable war with Great Britain until 
America was less unable to cope with that power. It is quite 
evident that Jefferson's philosophy was not marred by a belief in 
heavy armaments and in a belligerent attitude before nations. 



ADJUSTING OLD THEORIES TO NEW CONDITIONS 

314. The Already the country had been called to face a serious trouble 

Louisiana arising from the necessities of the western Pennsylvania farmers 

Purchase . 

— 1803 who, unable to market their bulky produce, had, by distillation, 

reduced it to a form in which it could more easily bear long 
transportation (293). And now thousands of immigrants, who 
later had built homes in the great agricultural valleys west of the 
Alleghanies, were producing a large surplus of foodstuffs which 
found difficulty in reaching a market. The mountains shut 
them off from the Atlantic seaboard, and there were few naviga- 
ble rivers that did not find their way to the great Mississippi, 
at whose mouth a foreign power held control. The treaty with 
Spain, made in 1795, had stipulated that citizens of the United 
States should be permitted to store their goods in New Orleans 
and re-ship them in seagoing vessels bound for foreign ports. 
But in October, 1800, by secret treaty, Spain ceded New Orleans 
to France, and rumors began to spread that the river would be 



ADJUSTING THEORIES TO CONDITIONS 253 



closed. Jefferson, in 1802, learned of the cession to France, 
and, willing to make any reasonable concession in order to secure 
treaty rights to the river at its mouth, sent James Monroe as 
special envoy to assist Robert R. Livingston, the American 
minister in 
France, in 
making a 
treaty. In the 
meantime , 
Napoleon had 
been made first 
consul for life, 
and his ambi- 
t i o n was 
unlimited. 
Louisiana was 
considered by 
Napoleon only 
a means to his 
ends; as the 
United States 
seemed to need 

privileges there, let the United States pay for the privileges, and 
pay roundly, for the French military chest needed replenish- 
ment. So Napoleon, through his minister Talleyrand, met the 
American envoys halfway and a bargain was struck. France 
ceded the whole of Louisiana to the United States for the sum of 
$15,000,000 — about two cents per acre — more than $3,000,000 
of which was to be paid to American citizens in satisfaction of 
damage claims against the French government. 

The Louisiana purchased from France contained, in round 315. Extent 
numbers, one million square miles of the best land in the "^^'orld,^" .^^^^j'" 
on which grew the primeval forest, interspersed with fertile Louisiana 
prairies and furrowed by noble rivers. The white population, *®""'*°''y 
at the time of the purchase, was perhaps 50,000. In less than a 
century it had increased to more than 15,000,000 comprising 




The Old Cabildo of New Orleans 

In this building took place the official transfer of 
Louisiana by France to the United States 



2 54 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

the inhabitants of fourteen great states, with an average area 

greater than all New England. 

316. Jeffer- In the question of purchasing Louisiana, Jefferson had delib- 

son's erated upon a case of enormous importance to the people of 

dilemma ^ , . ^ . , , r i • 

the Western country, whose future prosperity clamored for his 

affirmative decision. No doubt the president was thoroughly 
aware that the purchase of the territory would tend mightily 
to increase the power of the central government through the 
individual interest of each state in a common investment, as 
well as by reason of a future population within the territory, 
a population made up from all the states and owing allegiance 
to all. The situation was such as might well cause him to 
consider again his advocacy of "strict construction" and his 
hostiUty to the "implied powers" political heresy as exposed in 
his own Kentucky Resolutions, as well as in those of Madison 
for Virginia. At first, he purposed asking for a constitutional 
amendment providing distinctly for this purchase, but to seize 
the wonderful opportunity, immediate action was advisable, if 
not imperative. He sympathized deeply with the people of the 
West, but so far as the greatness of the population was concerned, 
he cared little. In reply to the suggestion that so much territory 
might in the future cause divergence of political thought and 
consequent division into states, he said: "Whether we remain 
one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi con- 
federacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of 
either." That Jefferson finally decided to give the people who 
were most interested the benefit of the doubt was entirely con- 
sistent with his view that the people in large groups and in small 
groups should always be allowed to regulate their o-wti affairs 
(290). If he did violence to his dogma of "strict construction," 
he upheld his creed of "local self-government," and well might 
have claimed immunity from criticism on the ground that his 
opposition to the "implied powers" preachment was based 
primarily on the contingent use of such power — whether for the 
good of the people in their homes, or, on the contrary, for the 
purpose of subjecting them to any degree of despotism. And 



ADJUSTING THEORIES TO CONDITIONS 255 




izing the 
new terri- 
tory 



the people understood and approved, giving him in his second 
election 162 electoral votes against 14 for his opponent. 

Having acquired the new region, the administration was under 317. Organ- 
the necessity of furnishing it with such local governmental 
machinery as would conform at 
once to its needs and to the re- 
quirements of the Constitution. 
The greatest part of the population 
was on and near the lower Missis- 
sippi, and was of French extrac- 
tion. The people differed, therefore, 
from the Americans in race, lan- 
guage, and institutions. In provid- 
ing a government for them 
Congress at first ignored racial 
differences, and created the Terri- 
tory of Orleans in the lower part 
of Louisiana, and placed its ad- 
ministration in the hands of a gov- 
ernor, a secretary, and a legislature appointed by the president 
of the United States. Such was the dissat- 
isfaction of the "subjects" that Congress 
gave them, the next year, an elective legisla- 
ture, and in 181 2 admitted Louisiana into 
the Union as a state. 

Soon after the treaty was concluded, the 318. Explor- 
president sent William Clark, his secretary, 'territory -"^ 
and Meriwether Lewis to explore the north- 1804-1806 
em and almost unknown parts of the terri- 
tory acquired. Setting out from St. Louis 
j. in May, 1804, with about forty men, they 
ascended the Missouri river ^ 1600 miles to 
Meriwether Lewis the Rocky mountains. Then they journeyed 

^ At one of their bivouacs on the bank of the Missouri, they received a 
visit from Daniel Boone, then 70 but vigorous, who expressed regret that other 
matters prevented his joining the expedition. 



William Clark 
From Lewis and Clark's Travels 




256 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 



down the Columbia to its mouth. A claim which the United 
States already had to the Pacific coast through the visit of 
Captain Gray in 1792, was made very strong by the expedition 
of Clark and Lewis. 




Route of Clark and Lewis 

Another expedition under Lieutenant Zebulon Pike had for 
its purpose the exploration of other parts of the new territory. 
Two months before Clark and Lewis returned to St. Louis, 
Pike started westward from that town. He passed through 
what are now Missouri and Kansas, then on to central Colorado, 
where he saw the great peak which bears his name and where the 
whole party were arrested by the Spaniards for invading their 
territory, and carried to Santa Fe as prisoners. They were not 
held very long, however, and they returned through Texas to 
the states. 
319. Signifi- In many ways the purchase of Louisiana is one of the most 
cance of the significant single incidents in American history. We have 
Purchase already seen what pains Jefferson was put to in finding legal 
justification for it. But what is of greater significance is the 
fact that in sacrificing a principle of his political faith, strict 
construction, he and his party consciously showed preference 
for national interests. Not only without specific constitutional 
power, but directly under executive initiative, Jefferson per- 



ADJUSTING THEORIES TO CONDITIONS 257 



formed "an act that did vastly more to consolidate national 
power than any act of either Hamilton or Adams." ^ Again, the 
popularity of Jefferson's action in this case is a telling index to 
the growth that had taken place in the idea of nationality. 




Route of Zebulon Pike 

People were not afraid of executive power even, when exercised 
courageously and patriotically. 

The acquisition of one million square miles of fertile territory 
attracted thousands of settlers into the new region and gave 
rise to many vexing problems relative to the admission of new 
states into the Union. Every time the federal government 
made a law pertaining to Louisiana, created a territory, decided 
a case in court, or admitted a state to the Union, it gave effective 
exercise to the federal arm. It was inevitable that the people 
who settled this region should look to the Union rather than to 
their territorial or state governments as the source of highest 
authority. 

The purchase was significant, too, for the institution of slavery. 
The greater part of the vast region was ordained by nature to 
be free. The balance between Northern and Southern power 
was destroyed, or would be in time.^ 

^ Mace, Method in History, p. 175. - New England threatened to secede 

because she thought it would give slavery an undue advantage. 



258 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

Finally, the purchase bound to the Union, through the conse- 
quent control of the Mississippi, a country of almost infinite 
possibilities, which the national government had heretofore 
largely ignored — the West and Southwest. The absence of 
transportation facilities to the East made necessary for the 
people of this country the free navigation of the river. With- 
out it their surplus of corn, wheat, hogs, and tobacco was 
practically worthless to them and to the world. In their 
distress they had often desired relief from the go\'ernment. 
Failing to receive it, they had threatened secession. After the 
purchase, their commerce mingled freely with the commerce of 
the nation and performed its part in developing, west of the 
Alleghanics, the spirit of nationality. Its significance in this 
direction is abundantly illustrated in the experience of Aaron 
Burr. 

320. Hamil- Harriilton, for using his influence in iSoi to cause the election 
r" *^ Q of Jefferson rather than Burr, had not been forgiven, and when 

the vice-president saw his candidacy for the governorship of 
New York fail through Hamilton's efforts, his active enmity was 
aroused. A quarrel was followed by a duel forced upon Ham- 
ilton, who fell mortally wounded at the first fire. The vice- 
president was untouched, so far as his physical frame was 
concerned, but the duel hurried him to ruin. 

321. Burr's After the duel with Hamilton, Burr engaged in an undertaking 
downfall; vvhich, in spite of the mystery in which it was enshrouded, meant 

at least filibustering, if not treason. Arms were collected on the 
Ohio, men enrolled, and everything made ready for an expedition 
to the Southwest, the object of which has never been certainly 
disclosed. General Wilkinson, commanding in that region, was 
concerned in the enterprise at first, but when he learned more 
fully what Burr intended, he withdrew from it and revealed 
what was going on. Jefferson ordered Burr arrested, and he 
was seized by United States officers near the boundary of 
Spanish Plorida. At his trial for treason, in Richmond, Chief 
Justice John Marshall presiding, no overt act of treason was 
proved, and Justice Marshall directed the jury to acquit him. 




FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 259 

The general belief is that Burr was endeavoring to found a new 
empire in Mexico, with himself on the throne as "Aaron I." 
The protection of the commercial interests of the Southwest, 
through the purchase of Louisiana, probably saved the national 
government a serious loss 
through defection in this region 
under the leadership of Aaron 
Burr. 



FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 

While Jefferson was having ^^1^ ^^L 322. The 

difficulty in finding constitutional il^^^^^^^^^ trouble with 

right to purchase Louisiana, his MS«^^ . ^^*^^k. 

love of peace and his determina- 
tion to give the country an 
economical administration of its 

business were being put to test 

1 i_ r r ■ John Marshall 

by a number of foreign com- •" 

plications. The Mohammedans of North Africa had developed 
piracy into an institution, which was supported by forced levies 
on merchant ships of other countries. Although the president 
stood firmly for a reduced naval force, he was compelled to 
recognize the usefulness of an efficient na\'y when the deys and 
beys and pashas of Tripoli made war upon the United States. 
Commanders Decatur, Preble, and Bainbridge soon brought 
them to terms. 

During the first two years of Jefferson's second term, very 323. 
much of the carrying trade of the world came into American ^''°"^'!^ , 
hands because of war in Europe, for the United States was neu- seas 
tral and cargoes in her vessels were not liable to seizure. But 
in 1806 Great Britain, with the intention of weakening Napo- 
leon, now Emperor of France, issued a proclamation declaring 
that all the ports from Brest to the Elbe were in a state of block- 
ade. This act authorized the seizure of any vessels that should 
attempt to enter the ports named, and of course greatly injured 
American commerce. But, as though to add to the trouble. 



26o GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

Napoleon now issued a decree from Berlin, which city had just 
fallen into his hands after the defeat of the Prussian army at 
Jena and Auerstadt, declaring the British Isles in a state of 
blockade. In January, 1807, Great Britain declared the whole 
coast of Europe blockaded, and vessels bound from one French 
port to another liable to seizure and confiscation; and this 
proclamation provoked Napoleon's Milan Decree, in which he 
directed the seizure of all such ships as should submit to be 
searched by the British. It is estimated that two hundred 
American vessels were seized by the British in 1807. By this 
time the Jay treaty had expired, and America was without 
recourse except to the law of nations or the law of might. 
324. British Both Great Britain and France fell upon American merchant 
aggj-essions; vessels at pleasure. Great Britain impressed American sea- 
the Em- men, forcing them into her service by thousands. The peace- 

Kaj-OTQ Act • • 

—1807 loving Jefferson saw a war party arising m America. He was 
urgently advised that the only wholesome treatment for a bully 
was the application of force in large measures, but he believed 
that men would do right as they understood the right, and so 
he began his efforts to settle the troubles through diplomacy. 
First, he issued a proclamation warning all British war vessels 
to keep away from American shores. Then he called Congress 
in extra session and recommended the passing of an act which 
would forbid vessels in American ports from going to sea. The 
Embargo Act was duly passed. This protest, for that was what 
it amounted to, resulted in nothing, unless perhaps it saved a 
number of American ships from seizure. The trouble increased, 
and when Monroe and Pinkney arranged a treaty with Great 
Britain, perhaps the best that could have been made in 1807, 
its terms were so humiliating that Jefferson returned it without 
submitting it to the Senate. Matters rapidly grew worse. 
The American merchant marine had been crushed between two 
millstones — but whether Great Britain would prove to be 
the upper none could yet tell. Doubtless Great Britain felt 
that in resisting Napoleon she was fighting for the good of 
civilization. She might easily ascribe virtue to any act which 



FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 



261 



would increase the probability of success, and American trading 
vessels must not get in the way. The worst of British arrogance 
was shown in the attack on the Chesapeake, a war vessel of the 
United States, by the British frigate. Leopard, in June, 1807, 
in which eighteen men were slain, four seamen seized, and the 
United States greatly humiliated. The act was disavowed by 
Great Britain and belated reparation made. 

The embargo continued, in spite of evasion and in spite of 
great losses in trade. Those American vessels that remained in 
harbor for the two years rotted where they lay, while "Amer- 
ican seamen were forced to seek employment under the British 
flag, and British ships and British commerce alone occupied the 
ocean." New England, a commercial region, suffered greatly, 
and was forced to develop manufactures. The agricultural 
parts of the country suffered less, yet even they felt the loss of 
markets for their crops. But there were many evasions of the 
Embargo Act. Shipowners found such great profit resulting 
from a successful voyage that 
the danger of complete loss of 
vessel and cargo was fre- 
quently incurred. Smuggling 
to Canada grew quite 
common. 

On February 28, 1809, 
the Non-Intercourse Act was 
passed by Congress. The act 
virtually repealed the Em- 
bargo Act, so far as concerned 
all other nations besides 
France and Great Britain. 
Trade revived, and though 
some ships were seized, the outlook began to brighten. 

James Madison, who succeeded to the presidency on March 
4, 1809, had served as secretary of state during Jefferson's 
entire term of ofllice. Thoroughly familiar with the affairs of 
state, the foreign policies of Jefferson continued. While Madi- 




325. The 

Non-Inter- 
course Act 
— 1809 



James Madison 



326. The 
fourth presi- 
dent — 
1805; the 
Western 
Americans 



262 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

son was greatly pleased with the British envoy, Mr. Erskine, 
who signed a treaty for Great Britain, agreeing to withdraw the 
Orders in Council, the British government refused the treaty 
and recalled Mr. Erskine. The continued oppression by the 
British could have but one result on the American mind. New 
leaders were springing up, who, though Democrats, could not 
be kept quiet within their party in the face of so much outrage. 
Clay and Calhoun, the leaders of many others of their age and 
spirit, had come upon the poHtical stage. They thought that 
America had borne enough, and, indeed, the patience of the 
people had been worn out. This sentiment was strongest 
west of the AUeghanies, a region thoroughly democratic because 
of its free frontier life. It was also nationalistic, because it 
was the child of the Union. "Here no pride of statehood 
diminished the affection and devotion of the citizen to the gov- 
ernment under which he held the title to his land; to which he 
looked for protection from the savage foe; which opened up the 
navigation of the rivers to his clumsy flatboat; which endowed 
the school in which his children learned to read. Constitu- 
tional scruples were at a discount with these rude, strong, brave 
men. . . . They wanted a government, and a strong govern- 
ment, and in the continually growing power of the republic 
they found the competent object of their civic trust and pride 
and love." ^ The sentiment of this region was prophetic of the 
democratized nationality of the Monroe period. 

Two events occurred to give more urgency to the spirit of 
resistance. First, the British ship. Little Belt, fired upon the 
United States frigate, President, in American waters, and the 
President replied so effectively that the Little Belt was disabled; 
and the entire seacoast applauded. A few months later a great 
victory over the Indians under Tecumseh was gained on Tippe- 
canoe creek by General William Henry Harrison; and now 
the West applauded. The war spirit was unmistakable. 
327. War President Madison at length yielded to the demands of the 
war party in the country and in Congress and sent to that body 



declared 
— 1812 



^ Walker, Making of llic Nation, p. 171. 



FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 263 

a message in which he asserted that the British government was 
already making war upon the United States. Not only had 
Great Britain blockaded foreign ports and thus injured 
American commerce, but she had even placed American 
ports in a state of virtual blockade, impressed American sea- 
men, and incited the Indians to ravage the frontier. His advice 
to declare war upon Great Britain was adopted June 18, 181 2. 

Congress immediately called for 50,000 volunteers, proceeded 
to increase the regular army to 25,000 men, and recommended 
that the several states take measures for raising a volunteer 
force ^ of 100,000 men for the purpose of repelling invasion. 
Congress also negotiated a loan of $11,000,000 to be expended 
in increasing the na\y and in carrying on the war. 

At this time Napoleon was crossing the Niemen with 400,000 328. Tin- 
men to invade Russia: and Great Britain, although furnishing f®^*^'"®^^ 

'^ ^ for war ; 

means for assisting Russia, was free to use her land forces in opposition 
crushing America. As to the navy, Great Britain possessed aj'^^^^^^s- 
thousand ships, and the United States but fifteen. The pop- 
ulation of Great Britain was about 20,000,000; that of the 
United States 8,000,000. Great Britain's customs amoimted 
to £70,000,000 yearly, a sum thirty-five times as great as 
the United States could possibly collect. True, Great Britain's 
expenditures in the European wars were enormous; but for 
this condition, and the probability that the French would con- 
tinue to demand much attention from the British, America's 
cause would have seemed utterly hopeless from the first. It 
was not strange that Jefferson and Madison had shown 
reluctance to demand war as a settlement of America's 
grievances — and yet, now that war was declared, America's 
grievances came uppermost in mind, and found utterance 
in the popular war cry, "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." 
Still, there were many who opposed the war. New England 
was greatly disaffected. Connecticut refused to send troops 
to the Northwest border. Of the $10,000,000 raised by 
Congress for war purposes. New England subscribed but 
$1,000,000, although fifty per cent of the currency of the 



264 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

country lay in her banks and in the pockets of her people. The 
British, while warring against America on the Lakes, were able 
to secure supplies of beef from New England contractors. The 
opposition grew stronger as the war progressed. Threats of 
secession were frequent, and from leading citizens. In those 
days there was little arguing against the abstract right of with- 
drawal from the Union. It would have astonished many men 
who had voted for the Constitution to be told in 18 14 that 
they had voted for a complete and perpetual surrender of their 
state to a syndicate of states. In the dark days of 1813 Jeffer- 
son wrote: "Some apprehend danger from the defectjon of 
Massachusetts. It is a disagreeable circumstance, though not 
a dangerous one. If they become neutral we are sufficient for 
our enemy without them, and in fact we get no help from them 
now." It was not Massachusetts, however, but New England, 
that was lukewarm. 
329. Senti- Speaking of the bill for the admission of Louisiana in 181 1, 

ment for Josiah Ouincy of Massachusetts had said: "If this bill passes, 

secession; . . . . , . . 

the Hartford it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually a dissolution of 

Convention ^-^e Union; that it will free the states of their moral obligation, 
and as it will be the right of all to do, so it will be the duty of 
some definitely to prepare for separation, amicably if they may, 
but violently if they must." The opposition reached its climax in 
New England in 1S14 when, at the suggestion of Massachusetts, 
twenty-six delegates from five states met in the Hartford Con- 
vention and remained almost for a month in session behind 
closed doors. The convention sent a committee to Washington 
bearing the following resolution: "States which have no com- 
mon umpire must be their own judges, and execute their own 
decisions." They proposed a number of amendments to the 
Constitution, which Congress was requested to submit, depriv- 
ing the general government of powers, especially such as involved 
financial affairs. The whole movement was intended to lessen 
the powers with which the states had already charged Con- 
gress, or to secede in case of failure to secure the desired 
amendments. The committee arrived in Washington amid 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 265 

the general rejoicing over the two great events, Jackson's vic- 
tory and the signing of the treaty of peace. The influence of 
these results destroyed the remainder of the FederaUst party. 

In spite of all the obstacles raised at home, and the over- 
whelming disparity in strength of the two belligerents, the 
war was fought to a successful issue — and the United States 
pressed forward with quickened pace toward its greater freedom 
and stronger government. 

THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 

The government of Great Britain was but little better pre- 330. Inva- 

pared for war on the border than was that of the United States, ^°^ °} 

' Canada pro- 

and it seemed wise at Washington to invade Canada before the jected 
British there could be reenforced from beyond the sea. Besides, 
there was much disaffection in the Canadian provinces, accord- 
ing to report, and Great Britain might well be glad to offer 
terms of peace rather than press a war which might result in 
the loss of the last of her American colonies. 
'General Hull, commanding in the Northwest, marched with 331. The 

2£;oo men into Canada from Detroit, found General Brock °"^'*^7 

. . . . operations 

advancing against him, and marched his 2500 men back to on the 
Detroit, which post, with his army, he surrendered without ''°'"^®''' 
a struggle on August 16, 1812.^ Michigan was now in the 
hands of the British, and great alarm was felt throughout the 
Northwest. But thousands of volunteers came forward and 
were enrolled under command of General William Henry 
Harrison, who had succeeded Hull. -^ 

General Van Rensselaer marched to the Canadian border 
with 6000 men; then, leaving on the American side 5000 
who refused to enter upon a war of invasion because 
they were volunteers to repel invasion (327), crossed with 
1000 men and took the fortification at Queenstown after 
some severe fighting in which a certain Colonel Winfield Scott 
did his duty. Then Van Rensselaer returned in person to the 

^ Hull was tried by a court martial and sentenced to be shot, but his life 
was spared because of his services in the Revolution. 



266 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

American side in order to reason with his volunteers, and mean- 
time, the British, having been reenforced, retook the fort and 
all the American troops within it, October 13, 181 2. Van 
Rensselaer immediately sent in his resignation. 

The two disasters were sufficient cause to deter General Dear- 
born, in command of the third division designed to invade 

Canada, from ad- 
vancing. 

332. Cam- ^ ' ^^'^Z "^ ^^' I'"^ ^^^ succeeding 
Canada"; ^ '"/VV^K year little was effected' 

5i3 . \^ T^^iC:^**^^ ^y I'ii"'*^- Harrison 

won the battle of the 
Thames, in which the 
great chief Tecumseh 
fell, and recovered the 
Northwest. General 
Dearborn took York 
and left it in flames. 
The end of the year 
found the Americans 
within their own 
borders. The rela- 
tive advantage had 
hardly been changed 
by the encounters on 
Launched in 1797; now in the j^nd. General Brown 

Boston Navy \ arc! 1 , • - 1 1 

and Wmhcld Scott 

had fought well at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. 

333. The 'It would be hazardous to say that the British were more 

navy in the -^gtonished than the victors by the success of the Americans 
War of 1812 . , . •' 

at sea. First, the Constitution, August 19, 181 2, forced the 

surrender of the Giierriere after a thirty-minutes battle in the 

Gulf of St. Lawrence. In October of the same year, off the coast 

of North Carolina, the Wasp captured the Frolic, a British brig 

of heavier metal, after a contest lasting an hour. The other 

side of the picture was seen when Lawrence was mortally 





THE WAR IN THE SOL'TH 



Refekexce Maps for the War of 1812 



268 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

wounded and his frigate, Chesapeake, surrendered to the Shannon 
outside Boston harbor on June i, 1813. But OUver Hazard 
Perry, with a few unseasoned vessels, on September 7, captured 
•from the British on Lake Erie, "two ships, two brigs, one 
schooner, and one sloop," and at the same time captured all 
the hearts of America with his laconic report. It was this 

Facsimile of Perry's Report to General Harrison 

victory that enabled General Harrison to advance and win the 
battle of the Thames. Besides these successes, the American 
sailors gained victories under Decatur, Bainbridge and Porter, 
and Macdonough. Perhaps the greatest injury done at sea 
was by the American privateers. It is estimated that dur- 
ing the war they captured more than 2500 British vessels. 
Rates of insurance on shipping rose to prohibitory figures in 
some cases, and the English merchants and shipowners, who 
had helped to (bring on the war, were beginning to clamor for 
peace. ^^ 

334. The A more vigorous prosecution of the war on the part of the 

valiifn-' British followed Napoleon's abdication in April, 1814. There 
1814; Wash- were great fleets sent to the American shores, and a land force 
timore' ^*'' ^nder General Ross designed for the capture of Washington. 
Piattsburg To cooperate with this movement, a British fleet on Lake 
Champlain protected the advance of an army under General 
Prevost. 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 269 

General Ross landed 5000 men in August, and began his 
advance against Washington. The main American armies 
were still on the Canadian border, and the capital was without 
adequate defence. The militia under General Winder could do 
no more than retard the advance of the British. The presi- 
dent and cabinet and a host of private citizens became refugees 
from the city. Ross entered Washington on August 24, burned 
the public buildings in retaliation for the destruction com- 
mitted by Dearborn at York, and reembarked with the purpose 
of capturing Baltimore. The British advanced to attack the 
force of volunteers drawn up to defend the city, and a skirmish 
occurred on September 11, in which General Ross was killed. 
Meanwhile, the fleet had been ordered to assist in taking the 
city and it now diligently bombarded Fort McHenry, but 
nothing was accomplished. The campaign was given up, and 
the army reembarked, the troops being transported to the 
.West Indies to join in a campaign against New Orleans. 

On the day of the skirmish near Baltimore, in which the 
British General Ross lost his life, a naval engagement was 
fought on Lake Champlain. General Prevost had advanced 
with 14,000 men, his purpose being the invasion of New 
York state, while the British fleet on the lake should pro- 
tect his base. The Americans had some 1500 men at Platts- 
burg, in a good position, and a small fleet on the lake under 
Commodore Macdonough, who at once accepted battle, and 
within a few hours utterly defeated his antagonist. Mean- 
while, an engagement had begun between the land forces, but 
General Prevost retreated hurriedly when he learned of the 
disaster to the British fleet. 

The great Tecumseh had not been content with causing war 335. war 

in the Northwest, and he succeeded in his eftorts to incite thei?*^® 

South; 
Creeks in the far South to take up the hatchet. In August, Andrew 

1813, occurred the massacre at Fort Mimms, not far from Jackson 

Mobile. Following this event. General Andrew Jackson led 

his Tennessee riflemen into the Indian country and defeated 

the Creeks at Talladega and Emuckfau, and in a fierce battle 



270 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 



336. Battle 
of New 
Orleans 
— 1815 



337. The 
Treaty of 
Ghent 




at the Horse Shoe Bend of the Tallapoosa river — Tohopeka in 
the Indian tongue — he broke their power completely and they 
were compelled to sue for peace. One of the Americans who 
fought in this battle became president of the RepubUc of 
Texas. He was wounded while serving on the staff of a future 
president of the United States. 

A treaty made by the usurper is void, argued the British. 
Napoleon being in exile in Elba, the province of Louisiana, which 
he had sold to the United States a few years previously, was 

fair game in war. So Gen- 
eral Pakenham, brother-in- 
'^i\ /W.i^'^:^^7^r:^^ law of the great Wellington, 
came with 12,000 trained 
men to take New Orleans 
and Louisiana. Little 
opposition was expected. 

Gold Medal presented by Congress There were no American 
TO Andrew Jackson ^ ^i 1 • r 

troops worth speakmg of 

within a thousand miles, except perhaps a few volunteers who 
were resting a while after the campaign against the Indians. 
But Madison gave orders that Andrew Jackson should be placed 
in command in Louisiana, and the frontiersmen of the South- 
west rallied to him by scores and hundreds, and when Paken- 
ham came up the river he found intrenchments, and riflemen 
behind them, and cotton bales in places, with the muzzles of 
cannon showing. On January 8, 18 15, Pakenham advanced to 
the attack, and Jackson's men remained behind the intrench- 
ments and the cotton bales and shot the British down until 
they turned and gave up the struggle. Pakenham here met 
his death, as had Brock in Canada and Ross at Baltimore. 

On December 24, 1814, peace had been concluded, two weeks 
before Jackson, at New Orleans, had wiped out the disgrace of 
Hull at Detroit and the burning of the capitol. John Quincy 
Adams, Albert Gallatin, James Asheton Bayard, Henry Clay, 
and Jonathan Russell had met the British Commissioners at the 
little Dutch town of Ghent and agreed to terms of peace which 



THE SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 271 

amounted to little more than an agreement to quit fighting. 

The treaty did not mention "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights"; 

still, Great Britain never afterward annoyed American ships 

and never impressed American seamen. 

More important than the events of the war were the results 338. The 

that flowed from it in the form of ideas and sentiments. Prior ^^ ^ ^ ®*^* 

in a demo- 

to the war, the Republicans, the unwitting instrument of the cratic 
centralizing process, had been led to take up arms by a frontier ^^t'^^^i^y 
democracy (326) and the rising tide of nationahty. Indeed, 
the war was itself an assertion of the nation's determination to 
be free. The people were becoming conscious of unity and of 
its corollary, strength. They were coming to see the neces- 
sity of relying upon the federal arm for the protection of their 
country's honor. But while this sentiment had been strong 
enough to turn the scales in favor of war, it had been timid in 
some quarters and almost refractory in others. It was not yet 
strong enough and universal enough to inspire confidence and 
brush aside obstacles by sheer enthusiasm. The whip of Neces- 
sity drove the Republicans to war and war dissolved their fears 
of nationality. The Federalists gave faltering aid to the war 
and the war rendered ridiculous their fear of democracy. The 
outcome was a virile consciousness of democratic nationality. 
Democracy and nationality had fused. Federalists came to 
have confidence in the capacity of the people, and the people 
were no longer so fearful of centralized power. In the storm of 
war the Republican lost its mainmast, but succeeded in appro- 
priating the ballast of the Federalist. The Federalist turned 
turtle, sank in the sea of democracy, and when the survivors 
reached the shore, they had been transformed into National 
Republicans. 

Madison was the last of the Revolutionary statesmen, and 
Monroe was the president selected from the most brilliant group 
of men that ever illuminated the pages of American history. 
He was not the equal of Clay or Calhoun, or a number of others, 
in oratory or other peculiar power, but in experience and diplo- 
matic skill there was none to approach him. He had been 



272 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

chosen to assist in the Louisiana Purchase, which made him 
secretary of state, which made him president; while, coming 
into office with the support of both Jefferson and Madison, he 
enjoyed almost unequaled prestige. 

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 

339. The The president surrounded himself with a great cabinet — the 
fifth presi- greatest perhaps since Washington's. John Quincy Adams was 
the cabinet ' his secretary of state; William H. Crawford was his secre- 

' tary of the treasury; John C. Calhoun, secretary of war; and 
William H. Wirt, attorney general. During his first term, 
Daniel D. Tompkins, former governor of New York, was vice- 
president. The next few years could not be less than great 
in progress along all lines. 

Four years later (1820), Monroe was elected again without 
opposition; Vice-president Tompkins was also reelected. 

As if to hasten the process of unification. President Monroe 
had little more than taken the reins of government when he 
made a tour of the country. He traveled for days through the 
New England and Middle states, presumably on a tour of 
inspection of national defences. His presence put to rout 
whatever anti-national feeling may have remained in those 
regions and at the same time greatly stimulated the spirit of 
democracy. A New England newspaper, a former Federalist 
organ, spoke of the new administration as inaugurating "an 
era of good feeling." No president had ever gone among 
the people in such fashion, and the democracy did not fail to 
recognize Monroe's method as " the genuine article." Wher- 
ever he went he inspired fresh confidence in the integrity of 
the federal power and gave fresh hope to the young democracy. 

340. Terri- During the last trouble with Great Britain streams of emi- 
pansion" grants had flowed over the Alleghany mountains into the 
acquisition western valleys, and some had even reached the Pacific coast, 
— 1810 where they reenforced the claims to that coast resulting from 

the Boston merchant's visit in 1792 and the exploration of 
Lewis and Clark in 180 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 



273 




James Monroe 



In the early part of Monroe's first term, the Indians, together 
with the robbers and outlaws who had long infested Spanish 
Florida, became very troublesome, and General Andrew Jack- 
son not only drove them beyond 
the border, but pursued them into 
Spanish territory, and remained 
there unblushingly, thus giving rise 
to international controversy. But 
Spain had failed to restrain the 
Indians, and therefore, having 
failed to keep her treaty agree- 
ment, was amenable to reason; 
and by good diplomacy Jackson's 
movement of invasion was upheld 
by the United States government, 
and Spain was induced to enter 
into a new treaty (1819) by the 
terms of which she gave up her claim to Oregon and ceded 
Florida to the United States, while the United States surren- 
dered to Spain all claims upon Texas, and paid in addition 
the sum of $5,000,000. 

The duties on imports rapidly discharged the war debt of 341. Inter- 
$127,000,000, and left a surplus, which was appHed to the °^ ^^p"""^®" 
building of public highways. On the Cumberland road, from 
Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandaha, Illinois, there was spent, 
first and last, $200,000. Other great roads were built at public 
expense, and many more projected. By the end of Monroe's 
first term, not less than $1,500,000 had been expended by the 
United States government upon the highways. 

Fulton had launched the first successful steamboat on the 
Hudson in 1807; and few years passed before every river had 
its packets and steamers plying up and down, carrying the 
farmers' produce to market and bringing back manufactured 
goods in return. 

The center of population was rapidly moving westward. 
New states were being admitted. Old states had created the 



National 
Bank 



274 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

Union. The new states were created by the Union, but were 
admitted upon terms of equality. The great new West brought 
with it its new relations and its new problems. 

342. The Congress had refused a new charter to the old national bank 
in 181 1, but, since the country had now outgrown much of its 
fear of a central government, a new national bank was char- 

tered (18 1 6) for twenty years with a capital of $35,000,000. 
"Its capital was more than three times that of Hamilton's 
bank, and it was as fully endowed with authority. While it was 
more national, it was more democratic; five of its directors 
were appointed by the president, and both Congress and the 
secretary of the treasury were more directly connected with 
this than the former. . . . In 181 1, Henry Clay opposed the 
bank in an elaborate argument based on strict construction and 
true to the ancient ideals of his party; in 181 6, he was just as 
enthusiastic for the bank, and his argument would have done 
credit to Hamilton." ^ 

343. Jurists John Marshall was the first great chief justice (1801-1835). 

and deci- jj^ ^^^^^ ^-^^ ^^^^ ^^ decide that all cases that involve the Consti- 

sions a£Fect 

nationality tution of the United States are appealable to the federal courts. 

He declared unconstitutional a Maryland law that levied a 

tax on a branch of the national bank (181 9), upholding the 

constitutionality of such an institution on the ground that it 

was necessary for the proper handling of the national finances. 

The Supreme Court, in the same year, sustained the trustees 

of Dartmouth College in a case in which the legislature had 

attempted to change the charter without the consent of the 

trustees, on the ground that a legislature may not pass a law 

invalidating a contract. It also annulled a New York law 

which gave R. R. Livingston and Robert Fulton a monopoly 

of steamboat transportation in and around New York harbor, 

because Congress alone may regulate commerce between the 

states. These early decisions of the Supreme Court greatly 

influenced the development of the feeling that there is force 

and dignity in the institution that men call the Union. 

^ Mace, Method in History, pp. 185-186. 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 275 

In 1815 the North American Review began its work, the first 344. The 

national 
literature 



periodical to show the higher forms of American thinking and"^*'°"^^ 



to receive national attention. William CuUen Bryant wrote 
" Thanatopsis " and James Fenimore Cooper began to weave 
strands of Indian life and individual experiences of the Revolu- 
tionary war into stories that never fail to charm the youth of 
the country; Washington Irving enshrined in art the ludicrous 
and the serious in the history and traditions of the early Dutch 
governors of New York and made the history of New York 
entertaining to the English-speaking world. Since these begin- 
nings of a literature truly national and distinctively American, 
the movement has increased beyond all note or measure. 

While American commerce was suffering injury in the times 345. The 
of Jefferson and Madison, much capital was withdrawn from J"^°.g ^^® 
the shipping interests and invested in manufacturing enterprises. 1816-1824; 

Of course the factories had all the American market to them- "^°^^°^ ^ 

second elec- 

selves while the wars were going on; but after the treaty oftion — 1824 
Ghent was signed, and all ports were opened, the American 
markets were soon glutted with foreign goods, to the great 
embarrassment of "infant industries." To nourish the chil- 
dren until they could get upon their feet, it was thought best 
to protect them by a tariff on foreign goods, which could be 
removed at the will of Congress. Accordingly, in 1S16, those 
who had induced the country to go to war brought forward a 
protective tariff measure and, with the help of a Republican 
president, enacted it into law. 

The South and West had brought on the war, and the condi- 
tion of war had been responsible for the springing up of the 
factories, so the South and West were willing to prevent the 
destruction of the new enterprises through competition. When 
the tariff of 1816 failed to give as great protection as was desired, 
efforts were renewed to raise it. In 1820 the Senate defeated, 
by one vote, a new measure. But, in 1824, a bill was passed 
which slightly raised the duties and added raw materials to the 
list. This measure was fought bitterly by Daniel Webster, 
representing a New England shipping constituency, and was 



276 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

championed by Henry Clay of Kentucky, whose people had a 
surplus of raw material.^ The larifif was destmed to become 
one of the most serious questions of all in the country's his- 
tory. It even served to test the devotion to the Union of that 
great epoch-making Democrat who became president in 1829. 
Although he had been elected by the party of state rights and 
strict construction, he nevertheless threatened to coerce a state 
which had enacted a nullification ordinance. 

In the meantime, Monroe had gone through a second elec- 
tion without an opponent. Several issues had arisen during 
his first administration, but no new party had been formed, 
while the Federalists were forever dead. Only one vote was 
cast against Monroe, and that to preserve for Washington the 
exclusive honor of having been chosen president by a unani- 
mous vote. What better evidence could be found that "the 
lion and the lamb had lain down together"? or that democ- 
racy and nationality were blended, and that centralized power 
and democracy are entirely compatible when each understands 
and properly estimates the other? 
346. Mon- But the climax of the nationalizing process under a Republi- 
— 1823 ^^" administration, came in connection with certain conditions 
in South America. The Spanish colonies there were not slow 
to seize the opportunity offered by the temporary subjection 
of the mother country to Napoleon; and in 1810, Venezuela, 
Colombia, Argentina, and Chile, in rapid succession, revolted, 
and in each case the revolution succeeded and an independent 
republic was the result. Mexico had more recently begun her 
revolution, and the great monarchies of Europe, not yet recov- 
ered from the consequences of Napoleon's domination, feared 
that the infectious spirit of republicanism would not confine 
itself to America. Austria, France, Prussia, and Russia agreed 
upon what was called a Holy Alliance, having for its purpose 
the perpetuation of monarchical government and the mainte- 
nance upon their thrones of the interrelated royal families con- 

1 The parties and th3 sections have changed sides on the tariff as time and 
circumstances have changed. 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 277 

cerned. Russia had issued a decree forbidding the ships of any 
other nation to approach within one hundred miles of the west 
coast of what is now Alaska, upon which country, later called 
Russian America, she had a valid claim; she might extend this 
claim to include the west coast indefinitely if she could feel her 
power sufficient. Let the monarchies of Europe have a control- 
ling voice in the political affairs of America and there would be 
no safety anywhere from oppression. To call in question the 
title of the United States to Florida and to Louisiana would 
be for Spain and France, combined, a small thing to do, especially 
under an arrangement that would give Mexico to France. 
Washington and Jefferson had consistently proclaimed in effect 
that the United States had neither the right nor the reason for 
interfering between the nations of the Old World. Monroe 
proclaimed in effect that the governments of the Old World 
had neither right nor reason to interfere in America. In other 
words, Monroe, in a message to Congress, maintained, first, that 
the American continent should no longer be considered terri- 
tory for European colonization, and secondly, that any effort 
to coerce the newly established governments of this continent 
would be regarded as proof of an unfriendly disposition toward 
the United States. The policy had the approval of Madison 
and Jefferson, and it was, at the time, greatly pleasing to 
England. 

It is not difficult to see that the promulgation of this doc- 347. Signifi- 
trine was significant in two directions. It pointed back to the S^°^^ °^ *^® 
fact that the United States had recently become conscious of Doctrine 
its independent position among the powers of the world. The 
country was not only willing to keep out of "entangling alli- 
ances with foreign nations," as Washington in his farewell 
address had declared it must do, but meant to see to it that 
foreign nations should keep out of entangling alliances on the 
American side of the Atlantic. It felt strong enough to take 
positive ground with respect to all matters of vital interest, 
even though such position might contravene the interests of the 
powerful nations of Europe. But the Monroe Doctrine did 



278 GROWTH TOWARD STRONGER UNION 

more than point backward: it pointed forward with equal sig- 
nificance. It meant that hereafter the United States of Amer- 
ica would uphold, by force of arms if necessary, the principles 
of free go\'ernment throughout the western hemisphere. To be 
sure, the proposed opposition to despotic government in South 
and Central America was based on political interest, which, 
however, in the last analysis, is coincident with the interests 
of mankind. It is one of the characteristics of free govern- 
ment that its ideals keep sufficiently ahead to beckon it con- 
stantly forward. Nothing short of internal dissension could 
now prevent the new nationalism from going straight forward in 
its progress toward that ideal condition in which government 
and the governed are in perfect harmony. 

SUMMARY 

The Republican party came into control of the government after twelve 
years of federal administration and with the distinct idea that " that govern- 
ment is best which governs least." They were expected, therefore, to follow 
a very strict construction of the Constitution, leaving all powers and pre- 
rogatives not expressly conferred upon the federal authority by the funda- 
mental law to the states and to the people. Men, however, are subordinate 
to principles. It has often happened in the history of the world that the 
greatest of men have been used, contrary to their will, by compelling forces 
in human society and have been made to follow courses just the opposite of 
their own convictions. Always, too, these forces are in the end constructive 
in character. It was, therefore, a wise stroke of fortune that made Thomas 
JefTerson, the highest exponent of democracy the world has ever known, 
responsible for the exercise of federal power. Under such circumstances 
but one result could follow: the central government must grow in power, 
because the perpetuity of a democratic nationality demanded power, and 
because conditions were at work to make the government grow; yet the 
central government must also be made to serve the whole people and those 
in authority must recognize both the rights and the capacity of common 
men. In other words, if the government was to endure it must ha\e power 
enough to deal eflectively with all questions that concern the whole people, 
but it must use the power with due regard for the whole people. 

JefTerson's administration inaugurated a process which went a long way 
toward bringing about just such a condition. The purchase of Louisiana, the 
trouble with the Mohammedan pirates of Tripoli, the war with Great Britain 
commonly known as the war of 181 2, the successful operation of a steamboat 



MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 279 

— all these and many other incidents were so many factors in enlarging 
the field of action for the federal government; yet at the same time they 
set in motion new forces that helped to destroy the aristocratic idea of the 
federal party and to infuse fresh vigor into the democratic Republicans. 
The result has been appropriately called a democratized nationality. The 
spirit of this new product manifested itself in the reestablishment (iSiO) 
of the National Bank on a more democratic basis, the extension of the pro- 
tective idea to the products of the democratic West, the making of internal 
improvements, the admission of several democratic states, the general 
feeling of good will that sprang up from Massachusetts to Georgia, and, 
finally, the proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine. This process of making 
the central government an effective agent of the popular will was disturbed 
only by the rise of sectional interests which began to make themselves felt in 
spite of constructive democracy. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Was Jefiferson consistent in removing the "midnight judges"? 2. Knowing 
Jefferson's political faith, would you expect him to attempt to redeem the national 
debt? Why? How did he do it? 3. What effect did the war with the Barbary 
powers have upon the idea of nationality? 4. Give three reasons for the special 
importance of the Louisiana Purchase. Explain each. 5. By what right did 
Jefferson acquire this territory? 6. Why is the war of 1812 sometimes called our 
"Second War of Independence'"? What was the cause of this war? 7. The Repub- 
licans had opposed Hamilton's bank on the ground that it was unconstitutional and 
tended to centralize power. In 181 1 a Republican secretary of the treasury recom- 
mended its re-charter and the measure failed by only one vote. In 18 16 a Repub- 
lican president and Congress reestablished the bank by an overwhelming vote. 
What does this show as to the growth of the idea of natioaality? 8. How do you 
account for the Federalist opposition to the annexation of Louisiana and to the war 
of 181 2? g. What special significance do you find in the failure of Aaron Burr's 
expedition in the Southwest? 10. What battle in the war of 1S12 would doubtless 
have been averted if modern means of communication had been available? 11. 
Did New England believe in the right of secession at this time? Prove your answer. 
12. Show that the Federalists had reversed their position on their cardinal doctrine 
by 1814. 13. Why was the tariff schedule revised in 1816? 14. What importance 
do you attach to the tour of the country by President Monroe? 15. What is meant 
by "the Era of Good Feeling"? 16. What was the relation of democracy and 
nationality in 1820? 



CHAPTER XV 



THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Turner, Rise of the New West; Wilson, A merican 
People, vol. iii; MacMaster, History of the People of the United States, vol. iv; 
Stanwood, History of the Presidency; Burgess, The Middle Period; Taussig, Tarijf 
History of the United Stales. 

Sources. — Hart, Contemporaries, vol. iii; Beard, Readings in American Govern- 
ment and Politics; MacDonald, Select Documents . 

Illustrative M.ateri.\l. — Cooper, The Prairie; Eggleston, Circuit Rider. 



348. The 
trans- Alle- 
ghany re- 
gion: its 
rapid devel- 
opment 



THE WEST 

We have already seen that the region west of the Alleghanies 
had its part in bringing on the War of 1812. It was destined to 
play a much more conspicuous part in matters of national inter- 
est in the not distant future. Its resources were limitless and 
as yet had not been touched. It abounded in wide and fertile 
valleys, rich prairies, and great forests. A thousand streams 
watered the region wherein the agricultural resources were 
seconded by tempting opportunities for grazing and stock- 
raising; and mighty rivers were ways for cheap transportation 
of surplus products. Coal, iron, and lead lay beneath the sur- 
face in vast quantities, awaiting only the pick and shovel to 
yield their treasures of wealth. 

One of the characteristics of the well-developed American is 
his love of land — not the speculative land lust, but the love 
of it as his home. He has pushed west whenever his elbows 
touched his neighbor's. This natural tendency coupled with the 
distresses of the older communities (324) brought about, in the 
second decade of the nineteenth century, an unusual migra- 
tion to the land of promise beyond the Alleghanies. Already 



THE WEST 



281 



the Anglo-Saxon's instinct for government had set up, in this 
region, the states of Kentucky in 1792, Tennessee in 1796, and 
Ohio, the first daughter of the Northwest Territory, in 
1803; and then followed Louisiana, born in a storm in 181 2. 
The troubles with England and France on the high seas made 
conditions of living much harder than formerly in the United 
States, and particularly in the New England and Middle states. 
In the stir that always accompanies "hard times," many now 
sought refuge in the fertile West, where the government was 
selling lands at two dollars an acre on long time and at low 
interest. Dangers from the Indians had been greatly reduced 
by the efficient services of General William Henry Harrison at 
Tippecanoe creek (181 1), and later by General Andrew Jackson 




Route of the National Road 

in Florida. In 181 1, steamboats began to go up and down the 
Ohio river. Moreover, the government had given encourage- 
ment to road building by providing, in the Ohio admission act, 
that from the proceeds of the sales of public lands in that state, 
five per cent should be expended toward the construction of 
public highways. As early as 1806, definite steps were taken 
having in view the building of the Cumberland Road from 
Maryland to the Ohio river. These measures gave hope to 
those interested in the West that governmental encouragement 
would not be withheld from this region and that the obstacles 
to comfortable living there would be gradually removed. Dur- 
ing the War of 181 2, and immediately following it, the high- 
ways were kept alive by the trains of covered wagons, never 
out of sight, going West. The population of some of the states 
in this region doubled, trebled, and quadrupled in a decade. 



2«2 



THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 



upon the 
Union 



The trackless forests saw the rise of thrifty villages, while vil- 
lages became cities. Prairies were converted into farm lands 
and houses were built of native timber. The invention of the 
cotton gin in 1794 and the industrial revolution that was going 
on throughout Europe, and particularly in England, at this 
time greatly increased the demand for cotton and led to the 
rapid occupation of the Southwest. Commerce floated down 
the Mississippi, exchanging the surplus corn and bacon of the 
Northwest for the cotton and tobacco of the Southwest. 
349. New A number of new states knocked for admission in rapid suc- 
States; their ^^ggj^j^. 1^(^13^^^ in 1816, and Illinois in 1818, settled by people 
who had followed the roads up the Hudson and Mohawk valleys, 
and down the Ohio and along the lake shores; or by those of 
the Middle states, who followed the old road that Washington 
made to Fort Duquesne, then down the rivers to St. Louis and 
intermediate points. Mississippi came in in 181 7, and Alabama 
in 1819, organized, for the most part, by the planters from the 
Carolinas and Virginia. 

Such physical and material expansion as this must inevitably 
manifest itself in the growth of national institutions. The 
nation could not ignore such vigorous and spontaneous develop- 
ment, slow as were her leaders to acknowledge the merits of 
Western statesmen. This new region, vast, virile, and resource- 
ful, must find its appropriate place in the economic, political, 
and social life of the nation or be forever separated from it. 
The adjustment of these relations furnished fuel for a fire that 
put the American government to the severest test of its life — 
the Civil War. 

SLAVERY 



350. Mis- 
souri and 
slavery 



The first serious friction came when Missouri knocked for 
admission as a state. Her soil and climate had attracted 
settlers from Kentucky and Tennessee, who had moved into 
the new country with their slaves. Of course the Missourians 
were expecting to be granted a state government, and were 
also expecting their institutions to be preserved by the central 
government, as in the recent cases of Mississippi and Alabama, 



SLAVERY 



283 




as well as when Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana had 
become members of the Union. But Congress had become 
sensitive to the slavery question; years of petitions, committee 
reports, and debates had brought at length the beginning of an 
epoch; and the North had a majority in the House; for the 
first time the question appeared in national politics. 

From the time when the first shipment reached Jamestown, 
slaves had been openly imported into the United States until 
the year 1S07, when Congress passed an act directly prohibit- 
ing the foreign slave trade. 
This act was not enforced. 
North, as well as South — 
and the North mainly, be- 
cause the South was too busy 
agriculturally — had invested in 
the traffic which transported 
slaves from Africa and else- 
where, and continued to sell 
them in all the states from Mas- 
sachusetts to Georgia. Under 
the climatic influences, and in 
the economic conditions exist- 
ing in the various parts of the United States, the slaves drifted 
to the South through laws as inexorable as that of gravity; 
and Eh Whitney's cotton gin (1794) fastened the negro upon the 
Southern plantations for all time, or at least until the world's 
demand for Southern cotton shall be diminished through inven- 
tion or discovery. The slaves proved profitable as laborers, 
and made the South rich. From Maryland southward, the soil, 
climate, and elemental industries were such as to attract negro 
labor; in that climate he was at home, and the plantation labor 
on a large scale required less of intelligence and skill than did 
factory, or farm, or garden. In the North, however, the slave- 
market was soon satisfied; there, the climate proved too rigor- 
ous and the industries too exacting for the African negro 
whose forefathers for thousands of years had remained unde- 



Whitney's Cotton Gin 
After the original model 



284 



THE RISE OF SECTIOK\LISM 



veloped beneath a tropical sun ; so the Northern people got rid 
of their unprofitable negro laborers; and then, with consciences 
no longer bridled, began to agitate for compulsory emancipa- 
tion. The only difference, therefore, between the North and the 
South in these early days seems to have been purely a matter 
of economic divergence. If the people of the North had been 



351, The 
Union to be 
tested 




Picking Cotton 

placed under the climatic and other geographic conditions of 
the South, slavery would have flourished with them just as it 
did with Southern people. In other words, if natural conditions 
of soil, climate, etc., had been reversed, the attitude of the 
two sections toward slavery as an economic institution would 
likewise have been reversed. 

It was fortunate that since the days of Jefferson's first admin- 
istration, the government had been in the hands of men who 
guarded the country against the dangers of centralization. Only 
inch by inch had Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe given way 
to the unalterable demands of a strong government. Their 
work and their influence had been sorely needed for the preser- 
vation of the balanced powers of state and nation, so that the 
government was enabled to pass through the coming period of 
strife, retaining its strength, without too greatly oppressing the 



SLAVERY 285 

states. The tariff question was now a sufficient and an increas- 
ing menace to the further development of the cementing ten- 
dency, and slavery had appeared (1818) for the first time as 
a disturbing national question, almost exactly two centuries 
after its introduction into Virginia. It was like a smoldering 
fire during the Jacksonian period, in which the strength of the 
Union was tested and proved, yet it in reality increased as a 
disturbing force until its climax was reached in the Civil War, 
1861-1S65. 
In 1818 the Territory of Missouri, which was included in the 352. Dis- 

Louisiana Purchase, sought admission to the Union as a slave ^°'^'^.*^°^". 

' ^ _ cerning Mis- 

state. Such had been the admission of states as free and slave, souri; Maine 

to this date, that the strength of each group in the Senate was^^.^*^°"'^*^'" 
equal to that of the other; and the North and East saw that to 
admit Missouri as a slave state would destroy the equipoise 
of the sections and cast the balance in favor of the South and 
its peculiar institution; and they objected. A fierce debate, 
degenerating into abuse and vituperation, ensued. Thomas 
Jefferson, then old, and living quietly at Monticello, wrote of 
this fierce debate: "This momentous question, like a fire bell 
in the night, awakened me, and filled me with horror. I con- 
sidered it at once the knell of the Union." The North further 
felt that since Missouri for the most part bordered the free 
state of Illinois on the east, the South was breaking a precedent 
in going north of Mason and Dixon's line, which, however, did 
not extend west of the Mississippi. The South, on the other 
hand, saw that there was no possible chance for the admis- 
sion of more than two additional slave states — Arkansas and 
Florida, while a large unorganized territory remained from 
which to carve free states. 

The bill to admit Missouri as a state into the Union was sub- 
mitted February 13, 1819. The question of slaves or no slaves 
produced so much debate that the bill went over to the next 
Congress. In the meantime, many Northern states passed 
resolutions against the admission of Missouri with slavery, 
notably the legislatures of New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and 



286 



THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 



363. 

Thomas's 
substitute 
bill, or the 
" Missouri 
Com- 
promise " 
— 1820 



Delaware. The Territory of Missouri had suddenly attained 
great importance, due to the contest in Congress for advantage 
on the part of the two sections, and the fact that this was the 
first state, after Louisiana, to be created out of the Louisiana 
Purchase. To offset the danger threatened from the South, the 
North offered Maine for state honors; she could be cut out of 
Massachusetts, where she had belonged since 1677, and her two 
senators would balance those of Missouri. 

The Missouri bill was now amended by the House so as to 
prohibit slavery in that state. When the measure went to the 
Senate, it was combined with the Maine bill under the leader- 
ship of Henry Clay. Senator Thomas of Illinois now brought 
forward a substitute for the House amendment according to 
which Missouri should be admitted as a slave state, but all 
other states carved out of the Louisiana Purchase and lying 
north of 36° 30' should be free. The House accepted this sub- 
stitute after heated debate, and Maine, having her consti- 
tution in readiness, became a state immediately (1820), while 
Missouri was put to work on a slaveholding constitution. When 
the new constitution was submitted, members of Congress 
objected to it on the ground that it forbade the immigration 
of free negroes. Through the diplomacy of Henry Cla\% Mis- 
souri was induced to agree that no law should be made in any 
way abridging the rights of citizens of other states, whereupon 
she was admitted into the Union in August, 1821. 

The agitation of the slavery question became at this time not 

only a strong decentralizing force, but even a disorganizing force, 

such as would have destroyed the Union probably, had it not 

been for the steps taken by Jefferson and Madison to make the 

the" attack to Union justly indissoluble by making it as strong for the rights of 

an ethical ^ individual state as for the delegated powers of the feder- 

ground . 

ation of states. It shook the very foundations of the govern- 
ment, because it involved immediately the fundamental law of 
the land. It was simply the cjuestion of strict or loose construc- 
tion of the Constitution over again and in a new form, or rather 
as applied to a new question. Did Congress have the right to 



354. The 
South 
maintains 
the Consti- 
tution; the 
North shifts 



SLAVERY 287 

prescribe the terms upon which new states should be admitted? 
If she could admit states she certainly could reject states for 
cause, argued the North, though there be no express grant of 
such power in the Constitution. Moreover, the admission of 
the states from the Northwest territory, which were required 
by the Ordinance of 1787 to adopt anti-slavery constitutions, 
was cited as evidence that Congress had such a right and 
had hitherto acted upon it. But, argued the South, it was 
clearly understood by the states that adopted the Constitution 
that they surrendered none of their sovereign rights by so doing, 
and that when Congress attempted to dictate to a state a part 
of its fundamental law it was itself violating that very law; 
that such action would be a usurpation of power and would 
lead to a tyranny on the part of the federal government that 
was wholly incompatible with the rights of the state govern- 
ments and subversive of the spirit which inaugurated the Con- 
stitution. Clearly the South was legally and constitutionally 
right; and when men find their own interests plainly justified 
and protected by fundamental law it requires more than ordi- 
nary force to dislodge them. On the other hand, the North, 
realizing its defenceless position from a standpoint of law, 
began to lay emphasis upon the moral aspect of the institution 
of slavery. She began to see in human bondage a clear and 
iniquitous violation of moral law, which, her people asserted, 
is the highest law of the land. They submitted that slavery 
enervates society and perpetuates the worst form of cruelty 
toward a helpless victim; that it cultivates a tyrannous dispo- 
sition in the slaveholder and is contrary to the principles of 
free government, and hence to the Declaration of Independence 
itself. Gradually the issue shifted from economic and political 
grounds to practical and moral grounds, the pulpit and the 
press taking up the contest, which ever grew more bitter. 

The West, therefore, having done its part toward cementing 
the Union, was now incidentally doing much to increase sectional 
animosity. From this time forward the fires of sectional hatred 
did not cease to l)urn for more than a half century. 



THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 



THE NEW SCHOOL OF STATESMEN 



355. The Along with the rapid development of the West and the 
tbe ^Sections entrance into politics of the slavery question, there came a new 
school of statesmen. The Revolutionary patriots and the fathers 
of the republic were gradually passing off the stage of action, 
and the new leaders who took their places came more directly 
from the people. As a common patriotism had developed, as the 
people had felt more and more the strength of the federal arm, 
as their commercial interests had been unified, as their sense of 
dependence upon each other had grown, as questions of public 
concern had been agitated from one end of the country to the 
other; in a word, as the spirit of nationality became strong, 
freer participation in public affairs was inevitable. Interest in 
a question and knowledge of it carry as a corollary participa- 
tion in its solution. But, that the new generation of statesmen 
was democratic, and represented a higher national conscious- 
ness than its predecessors, did not prevent them from being 
also sectional. For example. New England felt itself closely 
bound together by interests pecuh'ar to itself, and which placed 
it apart as a section of the larger whole. The South was con- 
scious that its resources, its industries, and even some of its 
institutions were not common to the entire nation. The West, 
young, virile, and free, knew its unlikeness to any other part 
of the Union, and felt that its peculiar interests needed the 
recognition of the whole country. These conditions, however, 
reflected themselves more plainly in the presidential election 
of 1824, and rendered the Adams administration very unpop- 
ular. A line of succession threatened to become fixed in the 
elevation of the secretary of state to the chair of the executive. 
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe had been at the head of the 
state department, and though Jefferson had not succeeded 
Washington directly, he had been a candidate to succeed him, 
and had been elected vice-president. 
^^^•. J^® Although there was but one party — the Federal Republican 
in 1824 — there were four strong candidates for the presidency. 



THE NEW SCHOOL OF STATESMEN 



289 



I. John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Monroe's sec- 
retary of state. The son of the second president of the 
United States, Mr. Adams was a statesman of great ability, 
wide experience, and extraordinary scholarship. More than 
any of the other candidates, he represented the old Federalists 
and the aristocracy. He was very popular in New England. 




Henry Clay addressing the Senate 
After the painting by Rothermell 

2. Henry Clay of Kentucky, speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. Mr. Clay was one of the greatest political orators 
of his day, and it is doubted that any succeeding time has 
produced his equal. He was a Virginian by birth, and he was 
a magnetic candidate, with hosts of friends and admirers every- 
where. In him were embodied the vigor, the resourcefulness, 
and strength of the great West from which he came, as well as 
the polish and political training of the East. 

3. William H. Crawford of Georgia, secretary of the treasury. 
Mr. Crawford was the nominee of the Congressional caucus, 



290 THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 

and was one of the ablest men of his clay. His candidacy was 
practically interrupted by ill health. 

4. Andrew Jackson, United States senator from Tennessee. 
Jackson represented the new democracy, now beginning to feel 
its power. Like the frontiersman that he was, he relied upon 
his own native strength for success. 

357. New The campaign was significant. In the first place, all of the 
nondnatine candidates except Crawford had been nominated in an irregular 
and of cam- way. Party leaders had usually picked their man without con- 
paigmng suiting the people — an essentially oligarchic method. But so 

interested were the various sections of the country in their own 
local leaders and in giving direction to national policies, so 
intensely conscious of an identity of community interests, that 
the old caucus method of making nominations was no longer 
acceptable to the plain people. They accordingly resorted 
to mass meetings and endorsements by state legislatures. 
The fact that Clay, Adams, and Jackson were all nominated in 
this way is evidence of the rising tide of democracy, and is pro- 
phetic of the approaching days of bitter sectionalization. In 
the second place, the methods of the campaign were entirely 
out of the ordinary. Previously it had been beneath the dig- 
nity of presidential candidates to go about over the country 
asking for votes. In this campaign stump speeches, parades, 
topical songs, and all forms of popular demonstrations were 
used in behalf of the various candidates, more particularly in 
the interest of the "hero of New Orleans." Passion ran high. 
Thousands of people became interested in public questions 
who had thus far been indifferent to such matters. Appeals 
were made by candidates and their friends to sectional interests. 
The soil was being prepared for ci\'il discord. 

358. A In the electoral college, Jackson received gg votes, Adams 
Sngf the ^4, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. 

House elects John C. Calhoun had received a large majority of the votes 
jg2^™^~ for the vice-presidency, and was declared elected. 

No candidate for the presidency having a majority, the elec- 
tion again (308) devolved upon the House of Representatives, 



f ■ \ 

■ I'eoria i 

'A 

O 






'S-to^ 



-shTo ^-^ «^ yf ) ^i^?^ 



/tp I. 




=^■•1, 









^avan'iab. 






^ 



^ 



R. D.jSecYOM. £Dj:r,.N.B. 



THE NEW SCHOOL OF STATESMEN 



291 




which, under the Constitution, voting by states, must choose 
"from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding 
three on the Hst." Clay, thus eliminated as a candidate, gave 
his strength to Adams, who was elected, receiving the vote 
of thirteen of the twenty-four states. Perhaps Mr. Clay had 
made Mr. Adams president; and 
when Mr. Adams appointed Mr. 
Clay secretary of state, the charge 
was made that a bargain had been 
struck. 

Jackson's friends argued that 
their candidate should have been 
elected by the House of Repre- 
sentatives, because he h^d received 
the largest popular vote; and 
cried out that he had been robbed 
of his right. They declared war 
on Adams and on Clay, and 
immediately began active work for 
their candidate's success in 1828, taking time by the forelock 
in a campaign for the presidency. 

From the standpoint of experience John Quincy Adams was 359. The 
one of the best equipped men who ever sat in the White ^"'^^P'!^^'' 
House. Scholarly, able, energetic, and conscientious, he was difficult 
also well trained in the school of politics. He had been senator Position 
from Massachusetts, minister to Russia, peace commissioner at 
Ghent, minister to England, and secretary of state. Son of a 
Federalist president, he was cold, haughty, and diffident toward 
others, but was nevertheless sincerely devoted to the best inter- 
ests of his people, as he saw them. He had large ideas about the 
future of his country and wanted to expand to the Rio Grande, 
annex Canada, and absorb Cuba. But he was in trouble from 
the beginning. He was an ardent anti-slavery man, and was 
from a state that had new come to demand a high tariff. His 
technically righteous election remained clouded by suspicion 
of bargaining with Clay, and by the charge that he had shown 



John Quincy Adams 



292 THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 

lack of magnanimity in not withdrawing when Jackson was 
declared the choice of the people. And Jackson's friends were 
many. Tennessee was now more populous than Massachu- 
setts, and Jackson, whom both of the jealous Carolinas claimed, 
was without a rival in the affections of the people in every 
Southern state, while North, East, and West, the number of 
his adherents must logically be increased by all who were 
opposed to the administration. It is hardly too much to say 
that Jackson's defeat made him doubly strong for the work he 
was ordained to do in the future; and that Adams's victory 
sapped much of his strength when, in after years, he sat in the 
lower house of Congress and represented Massachusetts. 
380. The Congress convened on December 5, 1825. There were angry 

^f „ ^~ controversies. Mr. McDuffie, of South .Carolina, in the House, 
vestiga- ' ' ' 

tion;" the adversely criticised Mr. Clay for the part he had taken in the 
Conference Presidential election. Excitement followed, and an investi- 
gation was ordered, in which Mr. Clay produced " a mass of 
testimony" which his friends thought ample to justify him. 

Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, and the Central American 
republics invited the United States to send representatives to a 
congress of American republics to be held at Panama in June, 
1826. The purpose of the conference, suggested no doubt by 
the Monroe Doctrine, sought to cultivate among these powers 
a friendly understanding relative to European activities in the 
western hemisphere. The plan met with the hearty approval 
of the administration. But when the fact developed that the 
republic of Hayti also had been invited to participate, it caused 
a long debate in Congress in regard to the propriety of meeting 
on terms of quasi-political equality with negroes. The objec- 
tion was urged chiefly by the South. The United States was 
not represented, though two delegates were appointed; one of 
them failed through sickness, and the other "was not able to 
serve." The incident illustrates well the influence that sec- 
tionalism was beginning to exert upon national policies. 

The same anti-national force is seen about the same time 
in the Southeast. Georgia, in 1802-3, had surrendered to the 



THE NEW SCHOOL OF STATESMEN 293 

United States her claim to the territory west of her present 361. 
boundary, for which the United States had agreed to pay the ?^^°l?^^ 5°*^ 
sum of $1,250,000 and had engaged to extinguish "within a Indians 
reasonable time" the Indian title to lands within the remainder 
of the state. In February, 1825, Commissioners Campbell and 
Merriwether, on the part of the United States, made a treaty 
with some of the Creeks, by which the United States partly 
fulfilled her obligations to Georgia in regard to the Indian lands. 
This treaty proved objectionable to others of the Creeks; the 
chief who had signed it was killed; and the dissatisfied Indians 
appealed to the government to repudiate the treaty; and 
although it had been ratified by the Senate, the government 
proceeded to make a new treaty early in 1826. But Governor 
Troup of Georgia refused to admit validity in the new treaty; 
he ordered the survey of the western line of Georgia according 
to the terms of the treaty of 1802, and of the Indian lands 
designated in the old treaty, the proper disposal of these lands 
having already been provided for by the legislature. The 
United States government now threatened the arrest of the 
surveyors; but when Governor Troup replied that he would 
meet force with force, the survey was no longer hindered. A 
peaceful solution of the whole affair was a third treaty by the 
terms of which the Creeks gave up all their lands in Georgia 
and removed beyond the Mississippi. Georgia had successfully 
defied national authority and had asserted that she was "sover- 
eign on her own soil." 

The era of good feeling was past; divisions were taking place; 
the followers of President Adams and Clay, his secretary of 
state, began to be known as National Republicans, while those 
of Jackson, Calhoun, and Crawford were called Democratic 
Republicans. 

A high tariff act was defeated in the Senate only by the vote 362. Com- 

of Vice-President Calhoun in 1827. Soon afterward, the rep- ^'"^'P^ °^ 

' '- sections; 

resentatives of the protected industries met at Harrisburg, the " tariff 

Pennsylvania, and advocated still higher duties and began a °^ abomi- 
. ' ° ^ , nations " 

campaign to accomplish their purpose. The West combined 



294 



THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 



with the North on the tariff measures for the puri:)ose, it is said, 
of promoting the candidacy of Andrew Jackson for the presi- 
dency. At any rate, the West, the producer of raw material, 
combined with the North and East, the manufacturing sec- 
tions, in the production of a tariff measure suitable to both. 
The bill provided for a tariff on wool and other raw materials, 
to protect the farmers of the West; on pig iron to protect 

the Middle states, and on 
manufactured articles to 
help the merchants and 
manufacturers. Hardly 
could any party to the move- 
ment expect it to carry, but 
it carried nevertheless, and 
received the president's sig- 
nature on May 24, 182S. 

This "Tariff of Abomina- 
tions," as it was called, bore 
hardest on the South, which 
section produced most of 
the raw materials and 
received the least benefit, for few of its productions were 
on the protected list. South Carolina led in opposition, with 
John C. Calhoun, her favorite son, issuing a full discussion of 
the matter in a folder called "Exposition and Protest." In 
this he took the old ground of Jefferson and Madison, as ex- 
pressed in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, contending 
that the United States had the right to levy taxes to maintain 
the government, but not to protect industries. He summar- 
ized and restated much of the argument that had been used 
by the pohtical philosophers from all sections when statesmen 
from the respective sections had felt themselves aggrieved. He 
asserted, as New England had done in 1814, that a state was its 
own judge, and could properly dissolve the compact with other 
states when its rights had been invaded. In South Carolina 
and other states of the South meetings were held, resolutions 




John C. Calhoun 



THE NEW SCHOOL OF STATESMEN 295 

were passed, and great orators were heard denouncing the 
"Tariff of Abominations." The condition continued long into 
the next administration, and with the marked peculiarity that 
the slavery question did not enter into the discussions, except 
perhaps incidentally. The federal compact was of such uncer- 
tain strength that any section whenever aggrieved or injured 
in this or that interest, threatened to break the compact, and 
few seemed to regard secession an unjustifiable remedy for an 
extreme evil. 

In the meantime, the ambition of Andrew Jackson had been 363. 
satisfied, and thus a Democrat of a new and extreme t}'pe, a elected 
Southern slave-owner and a man of the people, had been elected. — 1828 
It was decided to wait to see what he would do. There was 
hope that the South, which paid a large per cent of the import 
duties of the entire country, but elected only a third of its rep- 
resentatives in Congress, would receive fairer consideration at 
the hands of the federal government. 

SUMMARY 

The rapid development of the West emphasized the idea of nationahty, 
but also it brought forward such new forces as promoted for the time the 
process of sectionalization. It was one thing to annex territory and another 
to organize states upon terms agreeable to all concerned. Respect for the 
federal power had grown for more than a quarter of a century, and with it 
the development of an intelligent patriotism, but the absence of quick 
and efficient means of transportation and communication permitted the rise 
of sectionalism. Men gauged national questions by the things they saw 
immediately around them. Their horizon was no wider than the interests 
which were peculiar to the section in which they lived. When men from 
other parts of the country could not agree with them, passions arose. Dis- 
cord took the place of harmony and bitterness entered into the settlement of 
all public questions. 

The admission of Missouri had brought forth a contest that revealed the 
divergent interests of the difTerent sections and gave emphasis to the slavery 
divergence. Once more, too, it aroused the old question of state rights 
and the whole problem of constitutional interpretation. Moreover, it 
attracted the attention of a much larger per cent of the people than had 
hitherto been interested in public matters, because it had to do with a 
problem that lay close to the daily interest of all the people. The election 



296 THE RISE OF SECTIONALISM 

of 1824 reflected these conditions and introduced a new factor into national 
politics — the common man. New England was successful in this election, 
through a combination between her candidate and another whose national 
ideals were acceptable to her. The new administration was constantly 
obstructed by sectional interests and came to a close in the midst of a storm 
which had been brought about by attempting to make laws in the interest 
of certain sections of the country. In passing the "Tariff of Abominations" 
members of Congress lost sight of national interests and committed them- 
selves to the pernicious practice of settling matters of national concern in 
accordance with the prochvities of a local constituency. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What were some of the conditions that retarded the development of the West 
before the war of 181 2? 2. What effect did the invention of the steamboat have 
upon Western development? 3. Why did not the slavery question become an issue 
when Alabama was admitted to the Union? Illustrate. 4. What had been the 
policy of the national government with reference to the admission of states before 
1820? 5. What was Missouri's attitude toward slavery? 6. How was the ques- 
tion of state rights involved in the Missouri controversy? 7. Why did the South 
adhere to the doctrine of "strict construction"? 8. Was the attitude of New 
England toward the federal power the same now as in 1 81 2? Why? 9. If railroads 
and telephones had been common in 1 800 would the process of nationalization have 
been interrupted by sectional interests? Why? 10. In what sense was the elec- 
tion of 1824 an indication of a more thorough democracy? How did it bring out 
sectional differences? 11. What reasons can you give for the failure of Adams to 
be reelected? 12. What significance do you find in the Panama congress affair? 
13. Was the "tariff of abominations" a protective tariff? 14. Did it place a duty 
upon raw materials? 15. How does it reveal the rise of the sectional spirit? 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Wilson, American People, vol. iv; MacMaster, 
History of the People of the United Stales, vol. vi; Houston, A Critical Study of 
Nullification in South Carolina; Burgess, The Middle Period; V'on Hoist, Constitu- 
tional History of the United States. 

Sources. — MacDon'ald, Select Documents; Hart, Contemporaries, vol. iii; Source 
Book. 

WESTERN DEMOCRACY IN PERSON 

The administration of the government from Washington to 364. " Gov- 
Jackson had been kept in the hands of a few men. There ernment by 

Secretaries 
had been an unbroken line of presidential succession handed 

down from one administration to the next. Part — a very great 
part — of Jackson's political capital consisted of the declared 
policy to break down government by secretaries and erect gov- 
ernment by the people. And Adams had been a secretary, 
and his administration as president had not been successful. 
He could neither run the engine nor put on the brakes. He 
had disappointed many of his supporters in not vetoing the 
"Tariff of Abominations," and had gained no strength in 
approving it. 

If ever there was a "typical" man, his name was Andrew 365. An- 
Jackson. Nevertheless, or, better to say, therefore, he was ^''^^ J^*^^" 
strongly individual; inasmuch as he represented the West, he Tennessee 
and the West were independent, unconventional, and unique; 
it had united its elemental forces with the spirit of a courageous 
man and had produced Andrew Jackson. The West was new, 
populous, and prosperous; it had its own ideas and its own 
purposes, some of them as yet unknown. The West had grown 
from a wilderness to be the home of more than two millions of 



298 THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

people, whose endurance of hardships had given them self- 
confidence, courage, and capacity. The theoretical questions 
of nationality and state sovereignty had not seriously taken hold 
of the minds of men in Tennessee. Jackson believed in local 
self-government of course, but also, of course, he had taken the 
power of the general government for granted — and if a govern- 
ment at all, one strong enough to maintain itself on every field. 
The powers at Washington had intimated, in 1819, their willing- 
ness for him to invade Spanish territory, and had sustained 
him in that delicate and dangerous enterprise. His state had 
come into the Union by the power of the general government. 
He might view the question of secession perpendicularly rather 
than from an angle. 
fiJ^^ f Jackson's campaign for the presidency was the first of its 
the demo- kind in the history of the government. He was a hero at great 
"^^J" gatherings in different sections. He carried New York by 
organization and good management, developing there his friend 
and associate, Van Buren. His supporters made the most of 
his war record, and of the fact that he had been defeated by 
Adams by means of a "foul bargain" between Adams and 
Clay. A small number of men had held the ofl^ices. The widen- 
ing West, now beginning to feel her strength, put forth all that 
strength to help Jackson, her first military hero. The poor 
widow's boy, homeless, friendless, uneducated, ambitious to 
become an American soldier at fourteen, captured by the Brit- 
ish at Hanging Rock, and refusing when a prisoner to black the 
British officer's boots, this boy had shown the possibilities of a 
man in the "Land of Opportunity," — the land of Democracy. 
Jeliferson was a Democrat by thought and choice. Jackson 
was a Democrat by necessity and birth. He had only the 
point of view of the common man. But nature made him of 
granite and made him large. He was a chieftain descended 
from Scotch Highlanders. He knew little of the fine theories 
of government, and cared less. With a refreshing independence 
of Congress and courts he had magnified his military office to 
his own proportions. He was warmhearted, combative, self- 



WESTERN DEMOCRACY IN PERSON 



299 



willed. What he wanted to do he moved straight onward to 
do that. Only a fair judge of men, he frequently missed the 
size of his associates and trusted or mistrusted the wrong man, 
and trusted himself when the judgment of others would have 
been better. The 
whole country has, 
perhaps, fashioned 
no stronger charac- 
ter, no better type 
of the self-taught 
American, than this 
rugged backwoods- 
man, who inciden- 
tally produced 
earthquakes and 
wrestled success- 
fully with their fury. 
When offices seek 
men, there need be 
no spoils, but when 
men seek offices, 
they must have help 
to win. Those men 
who spent their time 
and money to elect 
Jackson president, 

naturally expected to be remembered when he came into 
power, and they were not disappointed. It is estimated that 
for political reasons he removed during his first year ten 
times as many men as all other presidents had ever removed. 
Of more than six hundred appointees of the president he had 
removed more than a third, to say nothing of a much larger 
number of subordinates who went out along with their superiors. 
In modern times the spoils system is a logical necessity, result- 
ing from the contests of political parties. Its evils are limited 
by the civil service laws. 




General Andrew Jackson 



3CX) THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

368. The In the preceding chapter it has been pointed out that the 

South'shope '"Parifif of Abominations," a political treason committed in the 
in Jackson _ ^ x- 

time of John Quincy Adams's administration, was the result 
of that kind of politics which places sectional interests above 
those of the nation; that it was the product of a combination 
between New England manufacturers and Western producers 
of raw material; that it raised the tariff rates, and brought a 
storm of protest from the South because she considered it detri- 
mental to her industrial interests; that it had been opposed 
by Calhoun upon the ground that the Constitution, which gave 
to Congress the right to raise revenue, did not authorize the 
collection of a surplus through a system of taxation that took 
money out of the pockets of one section of the country to put 
into the pockets of another section; and finally that the South 
looked with hope for relief to the election of Andrew Jackson. 
369 The It was soon evident that the South had mistaken her man. 

South's jj^ ^ message to Congress (December, 1830) he asserted the con- 
ment stitutional right of Congress to levy such a tax and agreed with 

Clay that it was also in keeping with a wise national policy. It 
would have been difficult at this time to add more inflammable 
material to the fire of sectional jealousy. The South was worse 
than disappointed; she was furious. She could not forget the 
issue of slavery which the Missouri question had precipitated 
and which had been growing more acute from day to day. 
She had watched with suspicion the change in the attitude of 
New England toward the tariff, for as late as 1824 Daniel 
Webster of Massachusetts had declared that "the general sense 
of this age sets, with a strong current, in favor of freedom of 
commercial intercourse, and unrestrained individual action"; 
while he was now upholding the most abominable tariff act in 
the history of his country because his section, under the protect- 
ive system, was changing from a shipowning to an industrial 
district. Plainly, as it appeared to the South, there was a 
conscious effort to discriminate against her economic interests 
and her institutions. 

With pubhc sentiment in this condition, only a spark was 



WESTERN DEMOCRACY IN PERSON 301 



needed to set the whole country aflame again. When Senator 370. The 
Foote of Connecticut introduced a resolution (December, 1829) , °?*®. ^^°" 
providing that the federal government should take all public December, 
lands ofif the market, there was an inevitable explosion of the^^^' *_ ® 
anti-Eastern sentiment. The South and much of the West Webster 
could see nothing in the measure but an attempt to injure ^^^ ® ~ 
them by checking the tide of immigration, keeping a surplus of 
labor in New England, and thus reducing the price of labor for 
the manufacturers, who were 
already becoming rich through 
an iniquitous, unconstitutional, 
and undemocratic tariff law. 
The discussion naturally shifted, 
therefore, from the Foote reso- 
lution as such, to the more fun- 
damental question of the sphere 
of federal authority. Was such 
legislation constitutional? Did 
Congress have a right, under the 
Constitution, to enact a law that 
was sectional in its effects, or 
that gave one class of citizens 

the advantage over another? Were not these questions appro- 
priate for the states, rather than for federal authority? 

Senator Hayne of South Carolina took the ground that the 
Constitution is a compact, or an agreement binding a league 
of states, and that when the rights of a state are invaded or 
broken, the state has the right to withdraw from the Union. 
Webster took the ground that the states are one, that the Con- 
stitution made a nation, and that the parts must be subject 
to the whole, which cannot be broken. The debate contains 
perhaps the best summary of the arguments on this subject 
to be found. It is now agreed that, historically, Hayne was 
correct. But as a matter of expediency, or as to what might 
be best for the people of the whole country for all the future, 
Webster was prophetic. "The past was with Hayne; the 




Daniel Webster 



302 



THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 



372. Nulli- 
fication in 
South 
Carolina 
— 1832 



future was with Webster." Hayne's position was based upon 
the argument of Jefferson's Kentucky Resolutions and Madi- 
son's Virginia Resolutions, announced thirty years previously. 
Webster's position was not a new one, but was the masterly 
summary of all the arguments that had been presented from 
time to time in favor of the theory that "We the people" in 
the preamble of the Constitution destroyed state lines in so 
far as the Union was concerned, and fused the people into one 
indissoluble nation. 

On April 13, after the famous debate in January, 1830, 
Jefferson's birthday was celebrated with a great banquet. A 
rare program of toasts had been prepared, for the most part 
setting forth the position of the South on the questions at 
issue. When President Jackson was called upon he responded 
with "Our Federal Union — it must be preserved." It was 
hideously out of tune with all previous sentiments of that 
occasion, and provoked from Calhoun the virtual declaration of 
war, "Liberty dearer than Union." From this time forward 
the president and the vice-president were out of harmony, and 
when it became known to the president that in 1818 Calhoun 
had proposed that General Andrew Jackson should be cen- 
sured for insubordination in the prosecution of the war against 
the Seminole Indians, there was at once an impassable breach 
between the two officials, and Calhoun resigned his office to 
become a senator from South Carolina. When the contro- 
versy was about to reach its climax, Hayne left the Senate to 
become governor of the same state. The battle was just over 
the hill. 

Calhoun now issued "An address to the People of South 
Carolina," emphasizing again his doctrine as set forth in the 
"Exposition." His ceaseless attack upon the tariff policy, in 
addition to the admitted injustice of the "Tariff of Abomina- 
tions," led Congress in 1832 to pass a new tariff law, which 
practically returned to the basis of 1824, though it retained the 
protective idea. Once more in American history, it was not the 
amount of the tax, but the principle involved that was objec- 



WESTERN DEMOCRACY IN PERSON 303 

tionable, and, giving voice to the opposition, Calhoun wrote a 
letter to the governor of South Carolina setting forth in vigor- 
ous and convincing terms the doctrine of state sovereignty. He 
supported the proposition that the central government was the 
agent of the sovereign states; that when the agent exceeded 
his authority his actions were "null and void"; that federal law 
was binding in a given state only because the people in such 
state had made it so; that the same power which gave validity 
to the federal law in a given state could certainly nullify such 
law. The South Carolina legislature issued a call for a state 
convention, and on November 24 this convention declared the 
tariff acts of 1S28 and 1832 null and void, and forbade payment 
of duties on imports into the state after February i, following. 
It further declared that should the federal government attempt 
to enforce the said laws such action would ipso facto sever the 
relation between the State of South Carolina and the Union. 

President Jackson's attitude toward the whole affair had been 373. Jack- 
previously made plain when he said to a member of Congress ^°"'^. '^®" 
. . . termina- 

from South Carolina: "Please give my compliments to mytion; Clay's 

friends in your state, and say to them that if a single drop of ^™P''°°^'^® 
blood shall be shed there in opposition to the laws of the United 
States, I will hang the first man I can lay my hands on engaged 
in such treasonable conduct, upon the first tree I can reach." 
His reply, therefore, to the nullification proclamation was just 
such as would be expected: "The laws of the United States 
must be executed. I have no discretionary power on the 
subject — my duty is emphatically pronounced in the Constitu- 
tion. Those who told you that you might peacefully prevent 
their execution deceived you. . . . Their object is disunion, 
and disunion by armed force is treason." Governor Hayne 
followed with a proclamation to his people urging them to be 
firm. Jackson now asked authority of Congress to enforce the 
law in South Carolina, and when Congress passed the "Force 
Bill" the president prepared to send troops into that state. 
It looked like war, when Senator Clay again came forward 
with a compromise, February 12, 1833. He proposed a gradual 



304 THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

return to the basis of the schedule of 1824, one tenth of the 
excess of the measure of 1832 to be removed biennially until 
1840, when half of the remainder should be removed, and in 
1842 the twenty per cent basis should be adopted. This 
measure passed easily, and, on March 11, upon the call of 
Governor Hayne, the convention reassembled and South 
Carolina revoked the nullification ordinance. 

The result of the compromise was a postponement of the issue 
— not the issue as to the tariff, but the issue of state rights. 
South Carolina regarded herself as the victor, since the hateful 
laws had been repealed because of her protest. But the taxes 
had been collected while she was protesting, and the federal 
government had shown unmistakable evidence of an intention 
to counteract by force the principle of state sovereignty when 
applied to a national interest. 

JACKSON'S FISCAL POLICY 
374. Past The tariff war was not the only question which occupied 
the* National ^^^ public mind during "the reign of Andrew Jackson." The 
Bank; its re- people's president wielded the scepter of federal power with as 
—^16 much vigor against the National Bank as he had exhibited in 
his contest with South Carolina on the tariff question and state 
rights. In a previous chapter it has been pointed out that 
one movement of Hamilton's policy of centralization was the 
establishment of a national bank; that he had found constitu- 
tional right for it in the doctrine of "implied powers"; that he 
was opposed by Jefferson on the grounds that the Constitution 
did not expressly grant such power and that the tendency was 
too much toward centralization ; that after considering carefully 
the arguments of each, Washington followed the advice of 
Hamilton, and Congress chartered the institution (1791) for 
twenty years. We have further noticed that in 181 1, when the 
Republicans were in power, and this country was about to go to 
war with Great Britain over impressments, Congress had refused 
by one vote to recharter the Hamilton bank, but in 1816, under 
the nationalizing influences of the War of 181 2, a Republican 



JACKSON'S FISCAL POLICY 305 

administration rechartered it with more than three times the 
capital of the former bank, which had been somewhat less 
directly connected with the federal government. 

During the period of national expansion after the War of 
181 2, this bank shared in the general prosperity of the country 
and grew immensely rich. Branch banks were established in 
various sections and stockholders from Maine to Georgia shared 
in the marvelous profits and cherished toward it the friend- 
liest feelings. It was now receiving millions of the people's 
money on deposit, besides taking care of the government's 
surplus, negotiating its loans, and enjoying a monopoly of 
the banking business so far as the federal government was 
concerned. It was lending vast sums of money and returning 
to its stockholders gratifying dividends from their investment. 
It had very nearly become what Hamilton had desired it to be 
— the nerve center of American business enterprise. 

In addition to this bank, and in part no doubt because of its 375. The 
prosperity, numerous state banks had also come into existence. ^***® banks 
They were not state banks in the sense that they were under 
state supervision, but in the sense that they had received their 
authority to do business from state legislatures. Often such 
banks had been chartered for political reasons — either to pay 
a political debt or to promote party interests. Such banks 
were administered, therefore, in the same partisan way, and 
naturally enough many people came to suppose that all banking 
business was more or less tainted with graft. In the popular 
mind, especially in the West and South, pohtics and money 
were mutual friends. Jackson had been elected by the common 
people and naturally brought to the office of president a distrust 
of the integrity of the National Bank. Nor were grounds for 
distrust wanting. It was no secret that the bank as an organi- 
zation often favored certain candidates and spent thousands of 
dollars to secure their election, not necessarily in a corrupt way, 
but spent it nevertheless. Then Clay and Adams and Webster 
had shown themselves friendly to the institution and many 
had come to suspect that perhaps money was giving too much 



3o6 



THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 



376 

of the bill to 
renew the 
charter of 
the Bank 
— 1832 



direction to government. At any rate, it was evident that a 
keener sense of interest in public affairs was being developed 
by the people, and the people now ruled the country. 
Veto It was seven years from the time Jackson was inaugurated 
until the charter to the bank would expire, but that did not 

prevent his hoisting the 
danger signal. In his first 
message to Congress he 
declared: "Both the con- 
stitutionality and the ex- 
pediency of the law cre- 
ating this bank are well 
questioned by a large por- 
tion of our fellow-citizens; 
and it must be admitted 
by all that it has failed in 
the great end of establish- 
ing a uniform and sound 
currency." This low note 
was continually repeated in succeeding messages, and in 1832 
Nicholas Biddle, the president of the bank, upon the recommen- 
dation of Clay and Webster, asked that the charter be renewed. 
A bill passed both houses, but was vetoed by the president. 
In his veto message, Jackson maintained in substance that the 
bill was unconstitutional because the bank was not only not a 
necessary and proper instrument of the federal power, but 
was also expensive and un-American, contrary to democratic 
government and dangerous to a free people. 

Jackson had now been president for nearly four years, and 
Clay thought that in the bank there was good ground for a race. 
Nor was it very difficult for Jackson to hear the voice of the 
deposits people demanding that he run again, despite his previous ad- 
vocacy of single presidential terms with direct election. The 
. result of the campaign was ne\'er in doubt. The electoral vote 
was 219 to 49; and now Jackson had his mandate from the 




Henry Clay 



377. Jack- 
son re- 
elected — 
1832; Jack- 



people. 



The bank must go. 



In December after the election 



JACKSON'S FISCAL POLICY 307 

he sent a message to Congress insinuating that the bank was 
unsafe and was not to be trusted with the government funds, 
recommending at the same time an investigation of its condition. 
It proved to be thoroughly sound, and both houses of Congress 
gave it a vote of confidence. But Jackson was not to be 
thwarted. The bank had taken active part in the presidential 
campaign that had just closed — and on Clay's side. This 
dickering in politics by the money interests was offensive to the 
democracy of the country, and for the government to charter 
an institution of this kind was undemocratic and dangerous to 
the people's safety. 

The president remembered that the law gave to the secretary 
of the treasury the right to remove government deposits from 
the bank and inform Congress of his reasons. To deliver his 
meditated stroke required that a treasurer be found who could 
be used to carry out the president's wishes. The third appoint- 
ment proved lucky, one having been promoted, and one dismissed, 
before the hour met the man in the person of Roger B. Taney, 
who was transferred from the attorney general's department. 
An order was now issued from the treasury department for- 
bidding further deposits of federal money in the bank, and 
providing that existing funds should be drawn upon to meet 
current expenses of the government. Henceforth deposits were 
placed in state banks (frequently called "pet banks") scattered 
throughout the country. 

The results were many and far-reaching. The bank was 378. The 
compelled to contract its business, a hard thing to do when '^^^ {^^^^ into 
remember the burdens the institution had to carry at this time, a state bank; 
Public confidence in it was further weakened and it lost the J^jjQj^.^gJ^^J"_ 
support, therefore, of many of its former friends. The country tion of Van 
barely escaped financial disaster, and the bank adjusted its_^|"g 
business as best it could and reorganized under a state charter. 
There were no more national banks for a quarter of a century, 
the necessities of the Civil War bringing into existence our 
present system. 

The patronage of state banks by the national government 



3o8 THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

greatly stimulated the state bank business. Hundreds of new 
state banks came into existence and enjoyed their share of 
the federal surplus which was now accumulating. Business 
conditions were good with all classes, and the outlook was so 
bright that the speculative spirit developed. The new banks, 
as well as the old, issued a flood of paper money based upon 
nothing but prospects. Everybody had credit and believed 
he was on the point of getting rich. Money was easy, real 
estate was advancing rapidly, and long risks were common. 
Even the national government placed large loans with the 
states, and the states, like individuals, involved themselves 
heavily in land and in transportation facilities. The United 
States government sold nearly $25,000,000 worth of land in 
1836 and received in payment large amounts of state bank 
paper. To stop the accumulation of this unsafe currency the 
president issued the specie circular, ordering that the United 
States treasury receive nothing but gold and silver in payment 
for the lands. The new banks had no gold and silver with which 
to redeem their currency, and speculators found specie hard to 
borrow. The bottom dropped out of the land business, public 
and private improvement ceased, factories were shut down, 
labor became scarce, banks "went broke," the cost of living 
went up, riots became common, foreign commerce fell off, 
and the national treasury suddenly found itself more than 
$10,000,000 in debt. 

In the meantime, Jackson's second term had expired, and 
he had named his right hand man, Martin Van Buren, as his 
successor. The Whigs, a new party formed of the National 
RepubUcans (338) and others hostile to Jackson, scattered 
their votes among several candidates, and the Democrats won 
the election by 46 electoral and 25,000 popular majority. Van 
Buren undertook to relieve the financial situation by the 
establishment of sub-treasuries. Vaults were constructed in 
New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, New Orleans, Boston, and 
Charleston as depositories for the government revenues, and 
the country settled down to a more conservative fiscal policy. 



PROGRESS AND SECTIONAL INTERESTS 309 



NATIONAL PROGRESS AND SECTIONAL INTERESTS 

While the democratic president of the people was wielding the 379. Punda- 

scepter of national power in a manner impossible for the Queen cental pro- 

. cesses; 

of Great Britam and Ireland and Empress of India, there were prosperity 

tremendous forces at work just beneath the surface that were ^"^ danger 
destined to bring about revolutions no less fundamental than 
the great political questions we have just studied. 

The material development which followed the war of 181 2, 
and which so effectually contributed to the growth of nationality, 
went forward during the decade between 1830 and 1840 with 
remarkable rapidity, 
and, strangely 
enough, now became 
the chief factor in 
promoting, tempo- 
rarily at least, the 
process of sectionali- 
zation. At the be- 
ginning of the decade 
there were twenty- 
three miles of rail- 
way in the United 
States; at the close 

there were nearly three thousand. The results were both 
instantaneous and perpetual. On the farm, in the factory, 
at the mart there was constant demand for labor. Farm 
products increased, the output of the factories doubled, traffic 
gained commensurately, wholesale centers developed, capital 
began to come together for undertaking business on a larger 
scale, population grew dense in industrial and commercial cities, 
where a large foreign element now began to make itself felt, and 
deeper shafts were sent into the earth to satisfy the increasing 
demand for fuel. Steam navigation was rapidly transforming 
the western waterways into channels of exchange, while a 
variety of mechanical improvements in the manufacture of 




Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1830 
From an old print 



3IO 



THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 



cotton cloth gave impetus to the development of the i)lantation 
system in the South, and the invention of the McCormick 
reaper in 1834 changed many a western prairie into a rich and 
profitable grain field. "The nation, hitherto singularly uniform 
in its conditions of life, exhibiting almost everywhere equal 
opportunities of success, few large fortunes, and an easy liveli- 







r:^-' 



Modern McCormick Reaper 
This reaper cuts and threshes the grain 

hood for all who were industrious, was now about to witness 
sudden enormous accumulations of wealth, to perceive sharp 
contrasts between poverty and abundance, an ominous breaking 
up of economic levels. The aggregate material power of the 
country was to be greatly increased but individual opportunity 
was to become unequal, society was to exchange its simple for 
a complex structure, fruitful of new problems of life, full of 
new capacities for disorder and disease." ^ 

Thus this unprecedented material expansion opened the way 
for a number of social and economic problems of today — such as 
lems; exten- strikes, labor unions, the relation of capital and labor, trusts, 
and interstate commerce. But for the immediate future it was 
more significant of the approaching political divergence between 
the sections of the country. It emphasized the economic 
differences of the various regions and thus made inevitable 
political conflicts between them. 

* Wilson, Division and Reunion. 



380. Social 
and eco- 
nomic prob 



sion of the 
suffrage 



PROGRESS AND SECTIONAL INTERESTS 311 

Along with this material growth there was a corresponding 
expansion of the suffrage. Since colonial days there had been 
in most of the states either religious or property qualifications 
for voting. In some places only tax-payers might vote. The 
states had almost uniformly been slow in adjusting their funda- 
mental laws to the changed conditions, and as a consequence 
thousands of men did not participate in political affairs. The 
agitation of the slavery question, the passionate public discussion 
of the tariff, the bitter contest over the bank — appealing to 
the almost instinctive popular distrust of capital, the rise of 
public education, the multiplication of newspapers, magazines, 
and books, the rapidly increasing means of quick communi- 
cation, even the material expansion itself — all these factors 
educated the popular mind to interest in all life, and politics 
was a part of it. As always happens when enlightenment grows, 
the people demanded more and more the right of self-govern- 
ment. The right of suffrage was therefore extended, caucus 
nominations became less frequent, terms of office were shortened, 
and offices formerly appointive were now filled by popular 
election. These reforms stirred within the politicians a mighty 
sympathy with the people, and gave rise to questionable, 
though interesting, methods of campaigning. "Bosses" and 
"rings" developed, and party machinery was expanded and 
reorganized with a view of controlling the new electorate. The 
common man had had little knowledge of political affairs, 
but he was now demanding the right to learn, and to learn by 
experience. « 

SUMMARY 

The plain people were now coming into their own and Andrew Jackson 
was their exponent. In him were embodied the honesty, the fearlessness, 
the capacity of the common man. In all these qualities he was the direct 
product of the rising democracy; and he administered the government after 
the democracy's methods. Accordingly, he threw questions of expediency 
as to methods to the winds and sent all his energy in the direction of his 
goal. This attitude, when applied to the questions that affected public 
policy and involved the administration of his oflice as president, brought 
him into open and violent conflict with every force that crossed his path. 



312 THE PEOPLE AS PRESIDENT 

When South Carolina attempted to nullify a federal law the absolutism of 
a military dictator was brought to bear in upholding the national statute. 
The battle was drawn, but only because compromise was effected before 
Jackson could bring the machinery of government into more radical action. 

The specter of his and the people's enemy appeared in the bank question, 
and again the methods he used were no less thoroughgoing than before. If 
Congress failed to act, then some power must be found that would not fail. 
If cabinet officials were not pliant, then others must be found that were 
so. The bank must be destroyed, because it was the people's enemy and 
his enemy, and he and the people were in the saddle. It was destroyed. 
Its destruction came at an unfavorable moment and helped to produce the 
worst panic that the country had ever seen. Jackson's term expired just 
in time to drop the burden on Martin Van Buren, who was not strong enough 
to stand up under it. He devised the sub-treasury plan, however, as a sort 
of preventive of future panics, out of which finally evolved our present 
system of banking. 

Meantime, during most of the decade beginning 1830, material pros- 
perity abounded, enlightenment increased rapidly, and the suffrage was 
greatly extended. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What isa />'/'zVa/man? In what sense was Andrew Jackson such? 2. Enumer- 
ate a few of the most pronounced elements in the character of Jackson. 3. What was 
there in the " Tariff of Abominations" to which the South could rightfully object? 

4. What was Webster's attitude toward the tariff in 1828? Why had he changed? 

5. What was Clay's consistent attitude «cward the tariff? 6. IIow was the 
doctrine of state rights involved in the tariff controversy? 7. Who were the chief 
exponents of the state rights doctrine and what constitutional basis did they find? 
8. How did the Hayne-Webster debate foreshadow the Civil War? 9. Was there 
any connection between Jackson's war on the bank and the spirit of nationality 
or with the spirit of democracy? 10. Did Jackson employ a constitutional method 
in his war on the bank? 11. What was the cause of the panic of 1837? 12. Has 
there been a panic within your own memory? What caused it? 13. What were "pet 
banks"? "Wildcat banks"? 14. How did the increase of inventions and means 
of transportation promote the process of sectionalization? 15. What restrictions 
were removed from the suffrage during this era? 



CHAPTER XVII 

SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION UNDER THE STATE 
RIGHTS VIEW 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Burgess, The Middle Period; Wilson, Division and 
Reunion; MacMaster, History oj the People of the United Slates; Larned, History 
for Ready Reference; Hart, Slavery and Abolition. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vols, iii, iv; MacDonald, Select 
Documents. 

Illustrative Material. — Whittier, Anti-slavery Poems; Longfellow, The 
Slave Singing at Midnight, The Slave's Dream; Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin; Lennox, 
Ante Bellum; Ingraham, Sunny South; Congressional Debates. 

THE CONSTITUTION AND SLAVERY 

Even if the Constitution had been silent upon the question 381. The 
of slavery, the acceptance or rejection of the institution would ^."J^ ^q™' 
have been a matter for the decision of each of the several states, recognition 
But the Constitution, far from being silent, provided for taxing o^ slavery 
the value of slaves as property, as well as counting three-fifths already 
of them in fixing representation in Congress. In addition, ®^*s*®'* 
Article I, Section g, prohibited Congress from interfering with 
the importation of slaves into any state prior to 1808. These 
provisions were compromises after strenuous debates in the 
constitutional convention. That the organic law of the 
Union thus defended slavery as an existing economical condi- 
tion, forced upon Congress the passing of the "Fugitive Slave 
Laws," the purpose of which was to protect the slave owner's 
lawful right to his property in slaves who might be enticed to 
escape from servitude into a state which no longer permitted 
slavery. Another emphatic instance of the recognition of 
slavery by the general government was in the case of North 
Carolina's cession of her western lands, in which the clear 

3^S 



314 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 



382. Oppo- 
sition to 
the exten- 
sion of 
slavery 



stipulation was made and accepted that slavery should receive 
protection. Representative Wise of Virginia said in Congress, 
in 1835: "Sir, slavery is interwoven with our very political 
existence." 

The tendency to restrict slavery was shown very early. In 
the formation of the general government, one question con- 
cerning the negro, as we have seen, regarded the importation 
of slaves; another concerned the political status of the slaves 
already in the United States. Both of these were disposed of 
by the Constitution, the first permanently, and the second also 
permanently, in so far as the original Constitution taught; for 
the amendments which overthrew slavery proved by their 
coming into existence after the Civil War that the Southern 
leaders had held to a correct interpretation of the original 
document. 

The next step in the development of the discussion was the 
bringing up of the question whether slavery should be pro- 
hibited in the territories and in the new states that were being 
created after the adoption of the Constitution, or, in other 
words, whether slavery should be restricted or extended. Not 
yet was there discussion of governmental abolition of slavery 
where it already existed, nor would there be until President 
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1862-3, which was 
issued as a war measure, and which was known to be without 
warrant in the Constitution. 

The angry debate over the admission of Missouri as a state 
in the Union was indeed like a "lire bell in the night," for con- 
ditions invited a great conflagration. Though many wise, 
humane, and patriotic men of the North and of the South had 
not only seen the evils of slavery, but had freed their own 
slaves and had tried to find a way to be rid of the institution on 
fair and friendly terms, yet there could be no reasonable hope 
that the financial system, the economic conditions, and the 
social customs of the empire of the South could be changed 
unless through a slow development of ages. Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, Mississippi, and Louisiana, had come in as slave states. 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY 315 

Congress had refused, by a decided vote, to prohibit slavery 
in the District of Columbia. Many effective laws were on the 
statute books whereby the owner might recover his runaway 
negro. Knowing that the Constitution and the laws protected 
the South, the orators of the North broadened the old concep- 
tion of the Rights of Man, to include the rights of the negro 
man. They appealed to the feelings of philanthropy and religion 
and they created the doctrine of the "higher law" than the 
Constitution and the laws of the country. The South warmed 
with indignation at the attacks upon her vested rights, while 
the North very suddenly glowed with altruistic emotions. The 
debates on the admission of Missouri kindled the fires of sec- 
tional animosity, which, though they smoldered for a while, 
finally broke out and raged in both sections. Possibly the 
institution would have endured longer had Southern statesmen 
been less bold and aggressive in the spread of slavery to new 
territory, yet both sides to the controversy had strong ground 
to fear that the other would gain a controlling majority in Con- 
gress. When Missouri had come forward for admission (1820) 
the power was equal in the Senate, and from that time a great 
game of political skill was played by men and parties to win 
new territory for their respective sections. 

SLAVERY CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY 

After the first negro slaves came, in 1619, others were 384. Gen- 
brought as rapidly as there was a market for them. They ^fJ*) 5^^^°°" 
soon found their way to the rice and tobacco fields of the South, slavery 
and a few were employed as household servants throughout 
the North. Slavery was by no means a sectional institution 
during a hundred years after the founding of Jamestown and 
Plymouth, but it finally became sectionalized to a degree, 
through the laws of adaptation to economic needs, and not 
through the laws of ethics or religion, and not because one 
section of the country was more or less enlightened than another. 

When the navigation laws of Great Britain developed ship 
building and manufacturing in New England, the shipowners 



3i6 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 




soon found profitable employment in carrying timber and 
manufactured articles to the West Indies in exchange for 
sugar and molasses, which they brought to New England and 
made into rum, which in turn they carried to Africa and ex- 
changed for cap- 
tive negroes, 
whom they trans- 
ported to the 
West Indies or 
to America, ac- 
cording to the de- 
mand. In these 
early days there 
was no blame at- 
tached to the 
slave traders of 
the North, or to 
the slave owners 
of the South. 
They shared profits, and they must share the blame. When 
England closed her wars with France and Spain in 17 13, one 
of the conditions of peace was that she should have a monop- 
oly of the slave-carrying business. Queen Anne and her court- 
iers had large investments in the slave trade, and even the 
Friends in Pennsylvania had slaves for servants as late as the 
Revolution. Slavery was recognized in all the colonial laws. 

Though it is not possible to state a rule without exceptions, 
yet the negroes generally were well housed, well fed, and 
humanely treated by the overseers and owners. Motives of 
sound economy as well as humanity would dictate such a policy; 
and in the great interior of the slave territory there was little 
occasion for harsh treatment. Undisturbed by the agitators, 
the relations were most cordial, kind, and even affectionate, 
between the master's families and the old negroes. Such feel- 
ing existed during the Civil War and long afterward, and 
explains why there were so few negro outrages and uprisings 



Negro Quarters 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY 317 

while Southern men were away from their families in the early- 
sixties. Still, the visitor to the South might find overworked 
slaves, and slaves poorly fed by brutal masters whose reasoning 
powers were not sufhcient to make them understand their own 
interests in the matter. Negroes frequently were incited to 
run away and were roughly treated by their captors. In the 
absence of the owners, overseers were not always as kind as 
they should have been; but it should be remembered that, in 
most instances, the master lived among his slaves. They were 
well cared for and not overworked as a rule. The rise of aboli- 
tion sentiment, then, cannot be attributed to the manner of 
treatment which negroes received. 

As early as 16S8, a few Americans had begun to question the 386. Early 
moral quality of slavery, and before the time of the Revolu- ™^arT^"*^ 
tionary war, a few of the colonies had passed resolutions and emancipa- 
laws against the further importation of slaves, but these acts silver b - 
had been vetoed by the king for commercial reasons. comes sec- 

Universal discussion of the Rights of Man, which led to the LiiT^ria 
Revolution, shed its influence upon the question of negro 
slavery. The foremost American statesmen considered the 
question seriously and began to work for a peaceful solution. 
One of the indictments against King George III which Jefferson 
wrote in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence 
was that he had encouraged the slave trade, "violating the most 
sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant 
people who had never offended him." Jefferson proposed, in 
1820, that one-third of the revenues of Virginia be devoted to 
paying the owners for the gradual emancipation of their slaves. 
The congress of 1784 lacked only one vote of making all terri- 
tory west of the AUeghanies free territory. Jefferson was the 
author of the resolution. By their last will and testament 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Randolph freed their 
slaves. Already, in 1733, Great Britain had paid £33,000,000 
for the slaves in the West Indies, and had set them free. Doubt- 
less this tremendous philanthropy had an effect upon America. 
As a result of the discussion in the first and second Conti- 



3i8 SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 

nental Congress, slavery was to be prohibited in the North- 
west Territory. With a single exception, every state north 
of Mason and Dixon's line provided for gradual emancipation 
before Jefferson became president. The climate of the North 
was too severe for negroes. The death rate among them was 
high and their labor was not profitable in factories. Even as 
Jrce labor, after fifty years of enlightenment,' there was no 
demand for negroes in any kind of manufacturing enterprises 
North or South. But the story is a different one when it 
comes to the labor in rice fields, turpentine forests, and cane 
fields of the South. In 1776 there were 455,000 negroes in the 
South and only 46,000 in the North. The North had bought 
and sold. The South bought and had held. 

In some states the negro population equalled or surpassed 
the whites. The question necessarily became sectional; the 
operation of geographic laws and economic conditions could not 
be uniform. Exportation of cotton increased from 138,000 
pounds in 1792 to 127,860,152 pounds in 1S20. This was due 
to the cotton gin and slave labor. 

Forty-seven years before William Lloyd Garrison issued his 
Liberator, Thomas Jefiferson proposed a plan for the gradual 
emancipation of the negroes and their transportation to Liberia 
on the west coast of Africa. Even before the days of The Genius 
of Universal Emancipation, the Liberator, and the bitter speeches 
in Congress over the Missouri Compromise, the South was a 
fruitful field for emancipation societies; they existed in North 
Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, Tennessee, and Mary- 
land before they were organized in New England. Through 
the influence of Southern congressmen Sioo,ooo was appro- 
priated to a colonization society which was organized in 1816. 
Of this society a nephew of George Washington was the first 
president, and Henry Clay was the second president. For 
forty years it sent to Liberia an average of 250 negroes a year, 
while the race in the South was naturally increasing to millions. 
With such an increase and with the great demand for negro 
labor after the improvements in the spinning-wheel and loom 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED MORALLY 319 

by Arkwright, and the invention of the cotton gin, the result 
of the economic forces showed the vanity of artificial effort in 
opposition. 

SLAVERY CONSIDERED MORALLY 

In the struggle over the admission of Missouri (353), the 387. The 

second state to be carved out of the Louisiana Purchase, the ^]5^^V^^ 

' attitudes 

South lost irrecoverably. The compromise had left only Ar- and condi- 

kansas and Florida as possible slave states, and had prohibited **o°.o' t^® 

'^ ^ sections 

slavery in territory in which eventually twelve states were 

erected. But this was by no means all the damage; in the discus- 
sion over Missouri, the anti-slavery sentiment had been aroused 
to action. The North had recognized that the position of the 
South was impregnable from a constitutional standpoint; and 
she now shifted her line of attack to sentimental and moral 
grounds. Before the Compromise, the ethical or moral view of 
slavery was not peculiarly emphasized by any section. Perhaps 
as large a proportion of Southern statesmen as of Northern had 
lamented its evils, and given deep thought to its possible eradica- 
tion. But now that economic differences were becoming appar- 
ent there began naturally to develop likewise a different moral 
attitude toward the institution. The economic interest of the 
North in the negro was constantly declining, relatively at 
least, and in the consideration of slavery, lands and bank 
accounts were factors no longer. Hence, she could the more 
easily see the human side of the problem. Neither the South 
nor the North was peculiar, therefore, in its attitude assumed 
in the days of the Missouri Compromise, for material consider- 
ations have in all ages modified man's viewpoint on all public 
questions; and, if we divest slavery of its human aspect and 
regard it as an economic institution, it at once deserves a place 
beside the protective tariff, the ship subsidy, and all other 
forms of national policy that look to the protection or promotion 
of particular industries, classes of citizens, or sections of the 
country. To have expected the South to put away her economic 
interest in slavery and place the cjuestion upon moral grounds, 



320 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 



would have been to expect of her what no section of this or any 
other country has learned to do even yet. Possibly the North 
could have afforded to bear her share in the expense of the 
government's purchase of the millions of slaves in order to set 
them free; but the North made no such proposal; and the 
South could not feel that she alone could justly be required to 
bear the whole burden for the American people. 

The era (1820-1840) was one of reform. Modern prisons 
were being built; greater care for the unfortunate of all classes 
was taking hold of the thoughts of men; the deaf, dumb, and 
blind were receiving attention; the public free school idea was 
being proclaimed by Horace Mann of Massachusetts. Two 
normal schools were built for the training of teachers. Michi- 
gan established her university and a system of schools leading 
up to it. Francis Wright began, in 1830, the agitation of 
"Woman's Rights." Robert Owen's colony of socialism, 
known as the New Harmony Community of Equality, on the 
Wabash river in Indiana, had lived two years. The more 
visionary effort of Brook Farm, by Hawthorne, Lowell, 




SOUTH FORTS 

Fort, Great Salt Lake City, Utah, 1848 



Emerson, and others was spending its brief day. Mormonism, 
founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith of Elmira, New York, was 
crowded west, first to Ohio and then to Nauvoo, Illinois, and 
finally to Utah (1846). 

The provisions of the charter granted to Rhode Island in 
1663 continued as the constitution of that state until 1842. In 
1 84 1 not more than a third of the men in that state were allowed 
to vote, constitutional provisions limiting that right to the 
oldest sons, and to tax payers. The legislature gave no heed 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED MORALLY 321 

to petitions of those who were denied the right of suffrage. 
Finally these people held a convention, adopted a constitution, 
chose Thomas W. Dorr as governor, and elected a legislature in 
opposition to that which already existed. Trouble arose, the 
militia were called out. Dorr's forces were scattered, and he 
fled the state; but he returned in 1844, stood trial, and was 
condemned to life imprisonment. He was pardoned after one 
year in prison. Within another year he saw placed in the 
constitution of the state, the principles for which he had fought. 
In the same year (1842) trouble came up in New York state 
over rents claimed by the descendants of the old Dutch pa- 
troons. Their claims were bought by the tenants, and this 
phase of feudalism was ended. Manhood suffrage and fee 
simple title came together. 

In 182 1, the year of the Compromise, Benjamin Lundy had 389. The 

DS.rtlS£LIl 

printed the first issue of The Genius oj Universal Emancipa- prggg ^nd 
tion in the interest of the anti-slavery movement. About pulpit 
seven years later he enlisted William Lloyd Garrison, firebrand 
and fanatic, in the "crusade" for emancipation of the slaves. 
Garrison worked with Lundy for a time, but finding him to be 
too deliberate, printed the Liberator. The intemperate views 
expressed in this periodical subjected Garrison to the dangers 
of mob violence by those opposed to him. He was led through 
the streets of Boston with a rope around his body, and escaped 
death, perhaps, by being placed in jail for protection. He it 
was who characterized the Constitution as a "covenant with 
death and an agreement with hell"; he went about the country 
preaching the doctrine of immediate, complete, and uncondi- 
tional freedom of the negroes. He said: "I will be as harsh 
as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject 
I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. 
No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate 
alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife; tell the mother 
to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has 
fallen ; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the 
present." Gradually the newspapers, the bookmakers, and the 



322 SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 

preachers in the North took up the question. Whittier, in 
1843, in a poem addressed to the Old Dominion, stirred public 
sentiment with the lines: 

"Still shame your gallant ancestry, the cavaliers of old, 
By watching round the shambles where human flesh is sold — 
Gloat o'er the new-born child, and count his market value when 
The maddened mother's cry of woe shall pierce the slaver's den." 

Longfellow and Lowell used their pens little less effectively, 
while Wendell Phillips and Theodore Parker filled papers and 
pulpits with the "gospel of free negroes." At the same time 
Congress was listening with fear and trembling to such emo- 
tional exhortations as the following: "And reflect, sir, upon 
the nature of the being that you thus reduce to the condition of 
property! It is MAN — your BROTHER! Man, with an 
intelligent, immortal spirit — Man, allied to angels — ^ Man, 
made in the image of the Almighty — Man, in a peculiar and 
exclusive sense, the property of the great Jehovah." 
390. Negro In the year the Liberator was published, Nat Turner, a negro 
uprisings; preacher, led an insurrection at Southampton, Virginia, in 
riots; peti- which more than sixty people were killed. The greater part of 
t*°°^ them were women and children. The people of the South had 

not forgotten the Gabriel insurrection in Virginia in 1800, or 
the "Vesey Plot" in Charleston in 1822. The extremists in 
the North, through their speeches, sermons, and printed matter, 
caused the people of the South to fear still more formidable 
insurrections. 

Emancipation seemed to the South as well as to the North 
to depend upon insurrection, and it is not too much to say that 
the South dreaded the liberation of the slaves more than it 
prized their servitude. In 1831 Georgia offered $5000 for the 
delivery of Garrison to her authorities. Mississippi offered 
$5000 reward for the arrest of any one selling the Liberator in 
that state. In the North mobs grew in frequency and violence; 
in 1837, Elijah P. Lovejoy, publisher of an anti-slavery paper 
in Alton, Illinois, was killed and his office was demolished. The 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED MORALLY 323 

poet, John Greeiileaf Whittier, edited The Pennsylvania Free- 
man in Philadelphia; his plant was destroyed and the house 
in which it was printed was burnt. Petitions and memorials 
were sent to Congress, to the president, and to the post-office 
department, asking that abolitionist advocates be punished 
for inciting slaves to insurrection, and that incendiary matter 
be excluded from the mails. On the other hand, floods of 
[)etitions came from the North demanding the abolition of 
slaves. Congress finally adopted a rule that no further aboli- 
tion petitions should be read, this, too, in the face of the constitu- 
tional guaranty of the right to petition.' 

John Quincy Adams, after having been defeated for the 
second term as president, served his district in Congress for 
many years, and became known as the "Old Man Eloquent." 
He fought this "gag" rule, as it (excluding petitions) was called, 
for eight years, and finally succeeded in having it repealed in 
1S44, gradually drifting all the while to a position of hostility 
to slavery. 

Professor Burgess, an authority on constitutional history, 
says: "It would not be extravagant to say that the whole 
course of internal history of the United States, from 1836 to 
1 86 1, was more largely determined by the struggle in Congress 
over abolition petitions, and the use of the mails for the dis- 
tribution of abolition literature, than by anything else." 

Evidently conditions were shaping for a mighty and mortal 391. The 
struggle. The agitation must inevitably lead to the habit of arguments 
regarding all political measures as matters relating to slavery slavery 
and to the practice of settling them with purpose to affect that 
one question. Arguments pro and con began to seek all forms 
of justification and to leave their marks upon all kinds of institu- 
tions. The opponents of slavery urged: (i) That slaves were 
excluded from the elective franchise solely on account of "the 
color of the skin," and that this was contrary to the principles 
for which the Revolution was fought, since "taxation and repre- 
sentation should be inseparable." (2) That negro slavery was 
' See first amendment of the Constitution. 



324 SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 

harmful to the moraHty of the whites in that it constantly- 
stimulated the temper of the slave owner, particularly the youth ; 
and there was perpetual temptation to abuse the excessive 
power which masters exercised over their servants. (3) That 
slavery closed the door of opportunity upon the negro, particu- 
larly in the matter of education.^ (4) That slavery was a 
cruel institution in that "the contempt poured upon these 
people by our laws, our churches, our seminaries, our pro- 
fessions, naturally invokes upon their heads the fierce wrath 
of vulgar malignity"; that "our colored fellow citizens, . . 
are frequently denied seats in our stage coaches; and although 
admitted upon the decks of our steamboats, are almost univer- 
sally excluded from the cabins"; that husbands were separated 
from their wives, and children torn ruthlessly from their 
mothers. One case is cited in which "about twenty poor 
African families have had their all destroyed, and have neither 
bed, clothing, nor food remaining." (5) That slavery was 
economically unprofitable, because slaves were not adapted to 
the factory system, and their successful use required a wasteful 
extravagance of land. (6) That slavery was contrary to the 
"higher law." Lowell appealed to this sentiment when he 
wrote: 

" Slavery, the earth-born Cyclops, fcllest of the giant brood, 
Sons of brutish Force and Darkness, who have drenched the earth 

with blood, 
Famished in his self-made desert, blinded by our purer day, 
Gropes in yet unblasted regions for his miserable prey: — - 
Shall we guide his gory fingers where our helpless children play ? " 

The advocates of slavery argued to the contrary: 
392. The (i) That the laws of nature condemned the negro to a state 

^ofslavery ^^ servitude, because he was inferior in every way to the white 

' A town meeting in New Hampshire in 1834 resolved "that we will not asso- 
ciate with, nor in any way countenance, any man or woman who shall hereafter 
persist in attempting to establish a school in this town for the exclusive education 
of the blacks, or for their education in conjunction with the whites." Such decla- 
rations were taken as a proof of the intention of the advocates of slavery to keep 
the negroes in iijnorance. 



SLAVERY CONSIDERED MORALLY 325 

man; that the negro was not capable of filling any other 
station and that he was greatly benefited through his relation 
to the white man. (2) That the negro in servitude in America 
was much better off than the free negro in Africa; that slavery 
was really heljiful in promoting the happiness of the negro 
and putting him on a higher plane of living. (3) That slavery 
furnished the whites a necessary opportunity for self culture. 
Professor Dew of William and Mary college wrote in 1832: 
"Look to the slaveholding population of our country and you 
everywhere find them characterized by noble and elevated sen- 
timent, by humane and virtuous feelings. We do not find 
among them that cold, contracted, calculating selfishness which 
withers and repels everything around it, and lessens or destroys 
all the multiplied enjoyments of social intercourse. " (4) That 
slavery was not contrary to Holy Writ. Quoting again from 
Professor Dew: "We . . . deny most positively that there 
is anything in the Old or New Testament which would go to 
show that slavery, when once introduced, ought at all events 
to be abrogated, or that the master commits any offence in 
holding slaves. The children of Israel themselves were slave- 
holders, and were not condemned for it . . . the meek and 
humble Savior of the world in no instance meddled with the 
established institutions of mankind. . . He was born in the 
Roman world, a world in which the most galling slavery existed, 
a thousand times more cruel than the slavery in our own 
country — and yet He nowhere encourages insurrection — He 
nowhere fosters discontent — but exhorts always to implicit 
obedience and fidelity." (5) That slavery was favorable to 
republican government. "In the ancient republics of Greece 
and Rome, where the spirit of liberty glowed with most in- 
tensity, the slaves were more numerous than the freemen." 
(6) That slavery was necessary to the perpetuity of economic 
progress, because without it the cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco 
fields could not be developed. (7) That the abolition of slavery 
would destroy vested rights and reduce to poverty thousands of 
people who were then living in comparative ease and luxury. 



326 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 



394. The 
old issue 
concerning 
the powers 
delegated 
by the 
states to 
the federal 
union 



The more radical anti-slavery h-enliment now began to gather 
around such leaders, as William Lloyd Garrison, and to effect 
organization. Accordingly, in 1S3S the Liberty party took 
form and elected Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio to Congress,^ 
while two years later the abolitionists entered the presidential 
campaign and polled a very large vote. It was prophetic of a 
day not far distant when slavery would be the chief factor in 
national politics. 

THE QUALITY OF THE UNION 

The question whether the United States is singular or plural, 
one and indissoluble, or a league, and the Constitution a com- 
pact between states, rightfully to be dissolved at the will of any 
party to the contract, is one that men have viewed from differ- 
ent angles, and have argued according to their different inter- 
ests and conditions, moral, social, or industrial, ever since the 
adoption of the Constitution in 1789. The real point of con- 
troversy in this question concerns itself with the amount of 
power that should be exercised by the federal government, and 
is in reality a very old issue. It is perhaps not too much to 
say that the settlement of North America by the Anglo-Saxon 
was, in a large sense, a protest against despotism, because, as 
we have seen (chapter i), it was the result of an intellectual 
revolution that shook the foundations of authority in every 
field of human interest. Certainly the American Revolution 
declared in no unmistakable terms that the American people 
would not tolerate over-centralization of power. This is 
abundantly verified by both the Declaration of Independence 
and the Articles of Confederation. In the formation of the 
Constitution this same principle was clearly at work, as even 
a casual study of that document will reveal; and, though the 
necessity for stronger central power succeeded in a measurable 
degree, it yielded perceptibly to the opposing force of decentral- 
ization. This, it will be remembered, was necessary to secure 

I Garrison opposed this party, though his agitation of the slavery question was 
the immediate cause of its formation. 



THE QUALITY OF THE UNION 327 

the adoption of the Constitution, and left its distinct impress 
upon that document in the form of the first ten amendments. 
With the launching of the new government in 17S9, the contest 
gathered around the question of constitutional interpretation, 
the Federalists championing the doctrine of greater central 
authority and the Anti- Federalists opposing (chapter xiii). 
During this whole period the opposition to centralization, seek- 
ing a positive or affirmative substitute for the doctrine and 
policies of the friends of strong government, found it in the 
doctrine of state sovereignty — a very natural rallying point, 
since the people were in those days in closer contact with state 
than with federal power, and had given allegiance to local 
rather than to national authority for nearly two centuries. 

It was inevitable then that any locality, when it should feel 395. 
that its peculiar interests had been ignored by or subordinated secession 
to federal authority, should attempt to defend itself against and nuiii- 
despotic power by resort to the doctrine of state rights. This i-gyi^g^ed 
is exactly what happened at the time of the War of 1S12, as 
is shown by the Hartford Convention (329). New England 
believed that the federal government was abusing its power and 
that the rightful remedy was secession. It was precisely the 
same doctrine that this same region had urged in 1S03 and 1S04 
against the purchase of Louisiana — the right to dissolve the 
Union when the South should attain too great power in the 
affairs of the government. New England simply meant by 
all this that she feared centralized power and that she would 
make use of the doctrine of state rights to oppose it if 
necessary. 

The "nullification" episode, given in a former chapter, was 
essentially a protest against centralization and against despotism, 
real or imaginary. Whether well-founded or not. South Caro- 
lina's action was based on the belief that the attempt of the 
federal government to enforce the tariff acts of 1S28 and 1832 
was usurpation of authority which brought with it immediate 
danger to men's liberties. Nullitication, accordingly, was her 
rightful remedy, a most natural and moderate remedy. 



328 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION 



396. The 
historic 
struggle of 
state rights 
against 
centralized 
power; 
slavery the 
test case 



The foregoing facts are here rehearsed with the purpose of 
emphasizing three fundamental truths which help to a just 
understanding of the mightiest conflict on the Western Hemi- 
sphere: (i) That the American people have from the very be- 
ginning of their history stood in mortal fear of despotic power. 
(2) That every section of the country prior to the Ci\-il War, 
when it felt its liberties and even its peculiar interests endan- 
gered by federal authority, has resorted to the doctrine of state 
rights as a means of defense. (3) That slavery, becoming a 
sectional institution, adopted the commonly accepted theory, 
which rested for support upon the Anglo-Saxon fear of arbi- 
trary centralized power. It does not require, therefore, a long 
stretch of imagination to bridge the chasm between the South's 
defense of sla^'ery and the American instinctive demand for 
freedom from centralized power. The chief difference between 
the contest over slavery and previous contests with growing 
nationality is a difference of degree rather than of kind. 

The rage of the contending factions at previous times was 
but a zephyr in comparison with the storm that slavery was at 
length to bring. Whirlwinds of passion gathered in different 
sections of the country, each having its center and its circles 
of force. Through progressive development minor differences 
were lost, and all the strength of the North was marshalled 
against that of the South, and the final struggle between union 
and the technical Constitution took place. The question of the 
quality of the Union had to be settled; and negro slavery fur- 
nished the point of division at which the contending forces should 
finally measure strength and reach a physical conclusion. 



SUMMARY 

When the War for Independence had been won, the American people 
knew how to value the blessing of freedom from despotic power; hence they 
were very careful to grant to the new government which they were building 
a decidedly limited prerogative. The doctrine of state rights naturally, 
therefore, inhered in the Constitution itself — if not in its letter certainly 
in the spirit which gave it life. After 1789 every section of the country 
regularly defended its peculiar interests, when necessary, by resort to this 



THE QUALITY OF THE UNION 329 

doctrine. Slavery had scarcely become a distinctively Southern institu- 
tion until the beginning of the nineteenth century; nor had the South felt 
that its very life depended upon slavery until about the time of the Missouri 
Compromise. Just at this time the North was beginning to have moral 
scruples against the institution, and the ditTerences showed themselves in 
politics, in religion, in the press, in soc^iety, and in business. When the 
North began to attack slavery the South began to defend herself with the 
customary weapon of state sovereignty. Slavery, therefore, simply became 
the battleground which the forces of nationality and state sovereignty were 
now organizing to reconnoitre with a view to decisive combat. We shall 
see that the climax, though not the end, of the struggle was reached in the 
Civil War. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. When and how was slavery introduced into America? 2. What other 
important institution was introduced in the same year? 3. Why did slavery 
develop so much more rapidly at the South than at the North? 4. Point out the 
earmarks of slavery in the Constitution of the United States. 5. When and why 
did the objections to slavery take a decided ethical turn? 6. When and why did 
the institution of slavery become a sectional issue? 7. What influence did inven- 
tion have upon slavery? How? 8. How did the Missouri question affect aboli- 
tion sentiment? g. What importance should be attached to the anti-slavery peti- 
tions in Congress? 10. What fundamental relation obtains between Dorr's rebel- 
lion and the abolition crusade? 11. How do you account for the presence of the 
doctrine of strict construction and state rights in the early history of our country? 
12. Was the South or North right historically in its theory as to the nature of the 
Union? Explain. 13. How did slavery become allied with the doctrine of state 
rights? 14. Had any other interest ever made use of this doctrine before? 15. Do 
special industries pecuhar to a given section of the country now press their claims 
to protection and preservation on the part of the national government? 16. What 
does the highest patriotism demand of people whose business needs the special favor 
of the federal government? 17. What arguments were used by the abolitionists 
against slavery? By the slave owners in defense of it? iS. Was slavery becom- 
i ng more than a political question in 1840? Give reason for your answer, ig. What 
sort of treatment was usually accorded the slave? Did the North understand 
this to be true? 20. Were the press and the pulpit important factors in the aboli- 
tion of slavery? How did they expect the abolishment of slavery to be effected? 



CHAPTER XVIII 
» THE FAR WEST 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Burgess, The Middle Period; Barker, Potts, and 
Ramsdell, A School History of Texas; Garrison, Texas, Weslward Extension; Wilson, 
American People, Division and Reunion; Mace, Method in His lory; Sparks, The 
Expansion of the American People; Turner, Rise of the New West. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iii; MacDonald, Select Doc- 
uments. 

Illustrative M.\terial. — VVhittier, Angels of Buena Vista; Lyon, Hero of 
Monterey; Lowell, Bigelow Papers; Munroc, Golden Days of '49; Harte, Luck of 
Roaring Camp. 



THE WHIG RULE OF THE EARLY FORTIES 



General Jackson, the hero of the common people, gave a 
western interpretation to democracy and to the presidency. 



397. 

WUliam 

Henry 

Harrison Van Burcn was a partial return to the ideals of the East modified 

president ^^^' ^^^^ immediate presence and continued influence of the 

1841 masterful Jackson. But the panics of '37 and of '39 were too 

much for the Democrats to carry successfully. Van Buren 
was again nominated ; and the Whigs opposed him with General 
William Henry Harrison of Indiana, the "Hero of Tippecanoe'' 
(326). To secure Southern votes the Whigs nominated for the 
vice-presidency John Tyler of Virginia, who was at heart a 
Democrat, though he had left the party nominally on account, 
as it appeared later, of opposition to Jackson. After a noisy 
and showy campaign of whistles, horns, flags, mottoes, and 
doggerel songs, the Whigs won; as to Whig policy, there had 
been none, unless opposition to Van Buren and the panic was 
policy. In ridicule some Democrat had said: "Give him (Har- 
rison) a log cabin and a barrel of hard cider and he will be 
satisfied." It was the fatal blunder of giving a weapon to an 

330 



WHIG RULE OF THE EARLY FORTIES 331 




President 
Tyler and 
the Whigs 



enemy; at once the Whigs painted signs of log cabins and cider 
barrels. The author of the expression had given utterance to 
the thought that was really back of the contest between the 
seaboard states and the West, and between the politicians who 
lived in mansions and drank champagne, and the voters who 
lived in log cabins and drank hard cider. The voters elected 
"Tippecanoe and Tyler too." 

Within one month after the election. President Harrison, then 398. Death 
about se\'enty years old, much fatigued by the campaign, the in- Harrison •^°' 
auguration ceremonies, and the 
duties of office, beset night and 
day by office seekers, sickened 
and died. For the first time in 
the history of the country, the 
vice-president succeeded to an 
unexpired presidential term, an 
event for which the Whigs, who 
had elected John Tyler, were 
poorly prepared. The program 
of the Whigs, presented by 
Henry Clay, who was the ac- 
knowledged leader of the party, 
planned the repeal of the Inde- 
pendent Treasury Act, the es- 
tablishment of a new national bank (Jackson having destroyed 
the first one), the floating of bonds to bridge the panic, and 
the fixing of permanent tariff duties. 

President Tyler disappointed the Whigs. The negative part 
of the program, that of repealing the Independent Treasury 
Act, was easily passed. But after two unsuccessful efforts to 
pass a national bank act that the president would sign, the 
Whigs declared ''all political connections between their party 
and John Tyler at an end from that day forth." 

Although the Whigs had a majority of sixty members in the 399. Tyler 
lower house of Congress, they could make no progress against ^^^ ^°'^~ 
a president that was neither Whig nor Democrat, whom they Tyler and 



William Henry Harrison 



332 



THE FAR WEST 



his Cabinet 
the Web- 
ster-Ash- 
burton 
treaty — 
1842; Con- 
gressional 
elections 
— 1843 



had heedlessly elected. In the campaign which brought the 
Whigs into power, one of the issues had been the cause of the 
hard times through which the country had been passing since 
the panic of 1837. The Whigs had attributed the financial 
troubles to the destruction of the second national bank and to 
the low tariff. Accordingly, a few months after Tyler became 
president, a bill was passed rechartering the bank. Tyler vetoed 
the bill and Congress undertook to frame a measure that 
would be acceptable to the president. The revised bill met the 

fate of the former, as did also 
two tariff measures which Con- 
gress passed. By thus using his 
veto power the president de- 
stroyed whatever opportunity he 
may have had for steering the 
Whig ship clear of the breakers. 
He had retained all the cabinet 
members appointed by his pred- 
ecessor, and all of them resigned 
in a short time except Daniel 
Webster, the secretary of state, 
who remained only that he might 
conclude the important matter 
of determining the northeastern 
boundary line between the United States and Canada, which 
had been left unsettled by the treaty of 1783. According to 
that agreement this line extended "from the northwest angle 
of Nova Scotia, viz.: that angle which is formed by a line 
drawn due north from the source of Saint Croix river to the 
Highlands; along the said Highlands which divide those rivers 
Avhich empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from 
those which fall into the Atlantic ocean, to the northwestern- 
most head of Connecticut river." It is not difficult to see that 
such a description of a boundary line offers ample opportunity 
for disagreement. Various disputes arose as to the exact mean- 
ing of some of the terms used, and as to the location of some 




John Tyler 



TEXAS AND OREGON 333 

of the places and positions whose names were given. These 
matters harassed Monroe's administration, became more seri- 
ous with that of J. Q. Adams, and led, in Van Buren's day, to 
the "Aroostook War"- — an effort of Maine to take possession 
of part of the disputed territory. 

After much embarrassment, a compromise agreed upon (1842) 
between Mr. Webster, representing the United States, and Lord 
Ashburton, representing Great Britain, defined the boundary 
as it now runs. The treaty also provided for the extradition 
of fugitive criminals from one country to the other. After this 
agreement was accepted by both governments, Webster also 
left the cabinet (1842). In that year Congress passed a tariff 
tax fixing duties at considerably above twenty per cent, which 
had been the level sought by the compromise tariff of 1833. 

At the congressional elections in 1843, the Whigs lost to the 
Democrats by a large majority, but it little profited a president 
who had forfeited the confidence of both parties by being 
"neither bird nor beast" when distinction was necessary. 

TEXAS AND OREGON 

The careful student has already noticed the influence of the 400. The 

western frontier upon our national life. Not one great move- ^^^^ ^°^ 
'■ , ° untram- 

ment in the life of the American people has been unaffected by meied 
what the brave and strong pioneer has thought and felt and Westerners 
done. Indeed, the distinctive character of American civiliza- 
tion would have been lost long ago but for the free spirit and 
rugged strength of the Westerner; for into the West have always 
come the most freedom-loving members of a freedom-loving 
race; and the conditions of the frontier have not only tended 
to preserve liberty, but even to promote individual freedom. 
The Anglo-Saxon's instinct for a fuller life led him to brave the 
dangers of a savage land separated by three thousand miles of 
water from his mother country and plant himself permanently 
on the western shores of the Atlantic; it carried him likewise 
through the narrow passes of the AUeghanies and established 
him in the rich valleys of the Ohio, the Tennessee, and the 



334 



THE FAR WEST 



401. The 
settling of 
Texas not 
an effect of 
the slavery 
issue; but 
annexation 
becomes an 
issue be- 
cause of 
slavery 



Cumberland; it urged him to cross the great "father of waters" 
and take possession of the rolling prairies and fertile woodlands 
of the Louisiana territory. To have stopped here would have 
been to reverse the order of nature. Though following the 
instinct might give strong emphasis to the slavery question, 
revive in more formidable proportions the doctrme of state 
sovereignty, and even precipitate civil war, yet the love of 
freedom inherent in the Anglo-Saxon character must subordinate 
if not ignore all matters of less than fundamental importance. 
Come what may, the hardy pioneer who laid the basis of free 
government in the Western Hemisphere will continue to go 
west, east, or in any other direction where opportunity offers 
exercise for his unbounded initiative. This is recited here to 
help in showing the origin of the Texas and Oregon question, 
and its relation to the burning issue of slavery. 

It is important that the student should see that the annexa- 
tion of Texas and the occupation of Oregon were ordained long 
before slavery became a sectional issue, and would have resulted 
if that institution had never been. The settlement of Texas, 
therefore, and all the questions that grew out of it were not 
originated by conscious effort on the part of slavery to extend 
itself or to make secure the position of the South in the councils 
of the nation, as some historians would have us believe. It is 
true, however, that about 1836 both South and North began 
to consider the <juestion of annexation in its relation to the 
interests of slavery. No doubt the South at this time could 
very well see in annexation her own peculiar advantages and, 
in keeping with the laws of human nature, desired it more 
strongly than ever before. The North at the same time saw 
in annexation the favorable effect it would have upon an institu- 
tion which she opposed and which she was now beginning to 
feel was inhumane and contrary to national interests; and, 
with perfect naturalness she placed herself in opposition to 
annexation. If slavery had been no more prominent now than 
in 1803, the annexation of Texas would have encountered 
perhaps as little opposition as had been shown to Jefferson's 



TEXAS AND OREGON 335 

purchase of Louisiana. So after all, though slavery did not 
give origin to Texas, it made of her a national issue and pre- 
cipitated consequences that are still felt in American life. 

Just when the first Anglo-Saxon ventured to examine into 402. The 
the vast resources of the land which the Spaniards and Mexicans ^u^in — 
called Texas (a name derived from one of the Indian tribes of 1821; im- 
the region) is not definitely known. In 18 19, Moses Austin °"8''^*'°° 
and Stephen F. Austin, father and son, left their Missouri 
home, to which they had come from Connecticut, and obtained 
from the Mexican government,- about to win independence from 
Spain, a grant to a large tract of land on the Colorado river. 
The settlement made here became the nucleus of American 
life in Texas, and the Anglo-Saxon instinct to come west was 
stimulated by the friendly policy of the young and independent 
Republic of Mexico, which was now offering premiums in land 
to foreigners who would settle in her province. "From New 
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio they came; but most 
of all they came from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and 
Georgia. The wealthy, open-handed Southern planter, with a 
band of slaves to dig a second fortune from the fertile bottom 
lands of the Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado; the frugal North- 
ern farmer, wealthy in the possession of a family of sturdy 
sons; the 'poor white,' with hardly more than the shabby 
clothes upon his back; bridal couples on their honeymoon 
journey; young adventurers; lawyers, doctors, merchants — 
all sorts and conditions of men came to Texas. And to all of 
them it was a land bright with promise and hope. By 1835 
there were between twenty-five and thirty thousand Americans 
in Texas."! 

In the meantime, however, the arbitrary rule of the Mexican 403. Revo- 
officials and the naturally discordant racial elements had led '"^'^^J ^*° 

. , Jacinto, 

to friction. In 1830 Bustamante, the Mexican president, 1836; the 

forbade the further immigration of Americans into Texas and ^^^y^ ^®" 
thereby increased the natural desire of the American settlers 1836-1845 
to be received under the parental roof. Already the United 

» Barker, Potts, and Ramsdcll, A School History of Texas, p. 71. 



336 



THE FAR WEST 



404. 

Efforts 
toward ad- 
mission — 
1843-4 




States had endeavored in 1827 and 1829 to purchase the region 
lying northwest of the Nueces watershed. The Americans in 
Texas now attempted to separate themselves from the state of 
Coahuila, but in vain. When Santa Anna, in 1835, overthrew the 
Mexican Republic and became dictator, the relations between 
the Mexicans and the Americans in Texas were strained to the 

limit of endurance and a revolution 
was begun. It reached its climax in 
1836, when General Sam Houston, 
with 750 men, fought Santa Anna, 
with 1350 men, and gained the inde- 
pendence of Texas, which remained 
a separate republic for nine years. 
In 1843 Texas was asking to be 
admitted into the United States of 
America. Of course this opened again 
the old question of free or slave ter- 
ritory. The North was jealous of 
the increasing strength of the slavery 
element in the South, and Southern statesmen, intrenched in 
the Constitution and the laws, were not only firm but aggres- 
sive on the subject. 

Under the constitution of Mexico, adopted in 1827, slavery 
was prohibited in Texas. But the fertile river bottoms of 
Texas were too rich a field for cotton and corn, to escape the 
eye of the Southern planters. Americans had occupied Texas 
and had thrown off Mexico's yoke and were asking a place in 
their father's house, and the United States would not long 
shut the door against them. 

During Van Buren's term, Texas made overtures for admis- 
sion, but received no encouragement from the president. Tyler, 
however, a Southerner by birth and breeding, naturally looked 
with greater favor upon the annexation of Texas, a state with 
enormous potentiality for Southern advantage in the govern- 
ment. Besides, it had become apparent that Great Britain 
and France were directing their diplomacy toward the acqui- 



Sam Houston 



TEXAS AND OREGON 



337 



sition of Texas. For Texas, an empire in extent, to continue 
a slaveholding neighbor and rival republic would not be unpro- 
pitious to Southern interests, perhaps, but the people down 
in Texas were native Anglo-Saxons, and naturally belonged 
with and in the United States. President Tyler surprised the 
Senate in 1844 with the treaty with Texas which his secretary 
of state, John C. Calhoun, had prepared, and asked for its 
ratification, which was declined by a vote of 35 to 16. The 
annexation of Texas became the leading issue in the political 
campaign of this year. 

Whigs and Democrats held conventions in Baltimore to 405. The 
write platforms and nominate candidates. The Democrats clmoaten'^ 
nominated James K. Polk of 
Tennessee for president, and 
Silas Wright of New York for 
vice-president. Wright de- 
clined the nomination, and 
George M. Dallas of Pennsyl- 
vania was placed on the ticket. 
The Whigs nominated their 
idol, Henry Clay. The Dem- 
ocrats favored the annexation 
of Texas, or "the re-annexa- 
tion of Texas and the re-occu- 
pation of Oregon," for politi- 
cal reasons. It was in this 
campaign that the cry, " Fifty- 
four forty or fight" was heard. The Whigs said nothing about 
the annexation of Texas, but depended on old issues and 
Clay's magnetic personality for success. Clay, with his "fatal 
facility" for writing letters of explanation, undertook to give 
both parties to understand that he would be in favor of the 
annexation of Texas if it could be accomplished "without war, 
with the common consent of the nation, and on just and fair 
terms." Before his nomination by the Whigs, he had opposed 
the annexation of Texas, as likely to bring on a war with Mexico. 




James K. Polk 



338 



THE FAR WEST 



Clay's attempt to ride two horses drove the aboUtionists from 
him and into the Liberty party, which cast 60,000 votes for 
James G. Birney. The defection in New York and Michigan 
lost Clay the electoral votes of both states and elected Polk 
president. When the result was known. Congress rushed 
through a joint resolution annexing Texas, since a treaty of 
annexation would ha\'e required an affirmative vote of two- 
thirds of all the senators; Tyler signed the resolution March 3, 

and Texas accepted July 4, 
1845. On December 29th of 
the same year Congress ap- 
proved the constitution sub- 
mitted by Texas, and on Feb- 
ruary 16, 1846, President Anson 
Jones declared, "The Republic 
of Texas is no more," and 
handed over the government 
of the state to Governor J. 
Pinckney Henderson. Mean- 
Tv w. ^T. tt,.,.c. time, Florida, a slave state, had 

1 LAG Or i Ji^XAh 

been admitted (March, 1845). 
The arguments pro and con in the debate over Texas are 
significant. John C. Calhoun, Tyler's secretary of state, was 
annexation perhaps the ablest exponent of annexation. In 1844 he set 
of Texas; forth that: (i) "Great Britain ... is endeavoring, through 

Calhoun's ^ ' . . . . ^ ^ 

position her diplomacy, to accomplish it [the abolition of slavery], by 
making the u]x)lition of slavery one of the conditions on which 
Mexico should acknowledge her independence. . . It is suffi- 
cient to say, that the consummation of the avowed object of 
her wishes in reference to Texas would be followed by hostile 
feelings and relations between that country and the United 
States, which could not fail to i)lace her under the influence and 
control of Great Britain." (2) "It is well known that Texas 
has long desired to be annexed to this Union; that her people, 
at the time of the adoption of her constitution, expressed, by 
an almost unanimous vote, her desire to that effect." 




406. Argu 
ments con- 
cerning the 



TEXAS AND OREGON 339 

To these arguments of Calhoun might be added others that 407. Addi- 
exerted a compelling influence upon the minds of many, (i) t'°"*i argu- 
The Texans were one in blood, one in speech, one in institutions clay's' 
with the people of America. (2) Texas was an empire not only ''easomng 
in extent of territory, but also in wealth of resources. It would 
add immensely to the strength of the nation. (3) Texas had 
at one time rightfully belonged to the United States and her 
" reannexation " would be entirely legitimate. 

Opposed to these arguments were the following: (i) Annexa- 
tion "will extend and perpetuate slavery." (2) "Annexation 
and war with Mexico are identical." (3) "I conceive that no 
motive for the acquisition of foreign territory would be more 
unfortunate, or pregnant with more fatal consequences, than 
that of obtaining it for the purpose of strengthening one part 
against another part of the common Confederacy. Such a 
principle, put into practical operation, would menace the ex- 
istence, if it did not certainly sow the seeds of a dissolution of 
the Union. . . If today Texas be acquired to strengthen one 
part of the confederacy, tomorrow, Canada may be required 
to add strength to another." ^ (4) It would give the South 
preponderating influence in the national councils. 

The politicians spoke of the "re-annexation" of Texas to give 408. The 

popular strength to the annexation movement by suggesting J^^^ocrats 

that Texas had once belonged to the United States under the cates of 

Louisiana Purchase, but had been lost by the treaty of 181 o. ^^'■"to^l 

. -^ . expansion; 

They wrote "re" to the occupation of Oregon for the similar admission 

reason that it had once belonged to the United States, they said, "^ Michigan 

and was foolishly lost through a treaty. However this may be, Arkansas 

we see again the Democrats, the party of strict construction of 

constitutional provisions, becoming the party of expansion and 

adding to the country a princely domain in 1845. 

Since the Missouri Compromise (1820) Michigan had come in 

as a free state and Arkansas had been admitted as a slave state. 

The admission of Florida and Texas aroused again the whole 

• Arguments 2 and 3 are quoted from Senator Hcnrj' Clay's speech at Raleigh, 
April 17, 1S44. 



340 



THE FAR WEST 



409. Ac- 
quisition of 
Oregon; 
boundary 
settled — 
1846 



army of anti-slavery agitators, and, in the North, many speeches 
were made in favor of secession. 

To hold the Democrats of the North in line for the annexa- 
tion of Texas, the leaders had committed the party to the policy 
of acquiring Oregon, upon whose territory more than one free 
state would eventually be erected. In the treaties of 1824 and 
1825, Russia had relinquished all claims to the Pacific coast 
south of latitude 54° 40' north; and it was the alliterative 
appellation of this boundary line that had been the noisy slogan 
of the Democrats in the election, the aforesaid noise being raised, 
of course, with purpose to terrify Great Britain, which had a 
claim to the territory south of 54° 40' by reason of the estab- 
lishment of a number of trading-posts in that region by the 
Hudson Bay company. The treaties, with France in 1803 
and with Spain in 18 19, prescribed the forty-second parallel as 
the northern limit of Spanish territory; so Great Britain and 
the United States were both claiming the country between the 
Spanish boundary and the Russian boundary, that is to say, 
between the forty-second parallel and that of 54° 40'.^ The 
two powers, however, had agreed to occupy the country con- 
jointly, pending a settlement of boundaries, and in 1846 a com- 
promise was effected, and the forty-ninth parallel was established 
as the boundary between the British dominions on the west 
coast and the United States. 



WAR WITH ISIEXICO 



410. Polk Hardly had President Tyler signed the resolution for the 
1846- Ihe annexation of Texas, when the Polk administration came into 
Democratic power, bringing no real change, however, in the relative strength 
program ^^ sectional politics. As a matter of fact the change was but 
nominal, and the party program of the a\'owed Democrats 
developed only a more forcible continuation of most of the poli- 
cies which Tyler had approved: (i) The reduction of the tariff. 
(2) The reestablishment of the Independent Treasury. (3) The 

» What was the basis of the claims of the United States to this region ? 



WAR WITH MEXICO 341 

settlement of the Oregon boundary. (4) The acquisition of 

California. 

The claim of Mexico that her territory extended on the north 411. The 

as far as the Nueces river, though not intended to imply a T^^*.^" 

. . . Mexican 

relinquishment of her rights in Texas, was sufficient ground, in boundary 

President Polk's judgment, for holding the line of the Rio 

Grande with United States military forces. As to the actual 

rights of Mexico and the United States in the disputed strip of 

country, the treaty of Spain with France in 1800, and that of the 

United States with France in 1803, gave support to Polk's 

contention that the Rio Grande was the boundary, while Mexico 

had reason to claim that the treaty of 1819, in which the United 

States relinquished to Spain all right to Texas, had empowered 

her [Mexico] to make the division line between her provinces 

according to her own will; and that the boundary between 

Texas and Coahuila was the Nueces. 

In the summer of 1845, before the last authoritative pro- 412. Gen- 

cedure had completed the annexation of Texas, and had for- f ^ ..T^^^°'" 
^ . . ' hostilities 

mally made her a state m the American Union, President Polk with 
ordered General Taylor, with 1500 men, to proceed to Corpus Mexico- 
Christi, on the west bank of the Nueces, preparatory to forcible 
occupation of the disputed territory; and after reenforcing the 
army with some 3000 troops, Polk ordered Taylor, early in 
1846, to advance to the Rio Grande. Meantime, a Mexican 
army had entered the debatable ground; and on April 24, a 
collision occurred between flying parties, and the Americans 
lost men killed and captured. Then followed combats at Palo 
Alto on May 8, and at Resaca de la Palma on May 9; and 
the remainder of Ampudia's army recrossed the Rio Grande. 

President Polk sent a message to Congress, May 11, 1846, in 413. The 
which he asserted that Mexico had invaded American soil and American 

strfltccv 

had shed the blood of American citizens; war was at once 
declared, and plans were made for the invasion of Mexico. 
General Taylor was to advance and take Monterey; Kearny, 
marching from Fort Leavenworth, should take Santa Fe; and 
leaving a garrison there, should continue his march into Cali- 



342 



THE FAR WEST 



fornia and hold the country. Meanwhile Commodores Sloat 
and Stockton, who in 1S45 had begun the voyage around Cape 
Horn, should bombard the coast towns of California and set 
up a go\-ernment under United States authority. All these 
operations worked well together; Taylor took ]\Ionterey; 







fc-t-f 



SCALE or MII.E9 



^ 



lUO ilM 3M iOO 60O 




Map of the Mexican \Var 

Kearny took Santa Fe, left his garrison, and with 400 dragoons 
rode on to California; Sloat and Stockton reduced Monterey, 
California, to submission, while Fremcint raised his famous 
bear flag in the northern part of that region, and the inhabitants 
submitted to be governed as the conquerors chose. All this 
happened before Kearny could reach the scene of action, yet 



WAR WITH MEXICO 



343 



he arrived in time to give strength to the invaders. Kearny's 
800 men at Santa Fe marched under Doniphan a thousand 
miles into northern Mexico, took the city of Chihuahua, and 
then moved eastward and joined Taylor's forces at Saltillo. 
Meanwhile, Taylor had fought the 
battle of Buena Vista, in which he 
defeated a much more numerous army 
under Santa Anna, president and dic- 
tator of Mexico. Taylor, after this 
battle, ceased to advance, and Santa 
Anna hastened south to defend his 
capital against the army of General 
Winfield Scott. 

The refusal of Mexico to entertain proposals of peace deter- 414. 

mined the United States government to invade her territory Scott's in- 

" . . -^ vasion of 

by way of Vera Cruz, the nearest port to her capital city. Gen- Mexico — 




Fremont's " Bear P^lag " 



eral Scott, the commander-in-chief of the armies, landed 12,000 ^^47; the 

treaty of 
troops at Vera Cruz in March, 1847, and the city surrendered Guadalupe 

before the close of the month. The march to the capital was Hi<ialgo 
interrupted by battles at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, San Antonio, 
Cherubusco, and Molino del Rey, in which the unfortunate 
Mexican soldiers, under Spanish officers, unavailingly defended 
their positions with great gallantry and fearful loss. Another 
peace offering on the part of the Americans was met by Mexico's 
impossible demands, and Scott carried the fortifications of 
the capital and took possession of the city on September 13. 
Shortly after this event, the peace commissioners met near 
the capital city, and concluded what is called the treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, from the town in which they held their 
sessions. By the terms of this treaty, the Rio Grande became 
the boundary between Mexico and Texas. Mexico ceded to 
the United States all of New Mexico, and all of California 
excepting the Peninsula; and the United States paid to Mexico 
$15,000,000, besides assuming debts due from Mexico to Amer- 
ican creditors amounting to §3, 500, 000. By the treaty the 
United States acquired more than half a million square miles 



344 



THE FAR WEST 



415. Early 
interest in 
the Isth- 
mian canal; 
the Clayton- 
Bulwer 
treaty — 
1850 



416. The 

tariff; the 
treasury 



of additional territory, not including Texas. The United 
States now stretched westward to the "South Sea"; the colony 
at Jamestown, 3000 miles from the Golden Gate, had built 
their huts 240 years before the bear flag was unfolded; eight 
generations had passed away; the East had reached the West, 
and would again move westward to the East.^ 

Interest in the Southwest directed the attention of the coun- 
try to the importance of an Isthmian canal. When the war 
with Mexico broke out it became apparent that a shorter route 
to the Pacific was almost a necessity, for the distance around 
Cape Horn, and the slowness of travel overland across the 
mountains and deserts of the West, rendered communication 
with this far away region very uncertain and unsatisfactory in 
every way. In 1846 the United States and New Granada (now 
Colombia) entered into an agreement by which the former 
assumed a kind of protectorate over the Isthmus of Panama 
and in return received the guaranty of New Granada for an 
equal use of any transportation route across the Isthmus. 

These activities with regard to Panama excited Great Britain, 
for that country was also looking toward such a route across 
Nicaragua, where she exercised a form of protectorate over the 
Mosquito Indians. The relations between the United States and 
Great Britain were becoming somewhat strained when a settle- 
ment was reached in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty (April 9, 1850). 
By this treaty both countries agreed that each route in dispute 
would be subject to the equal use of both parties and should 
not be controlled in the exclusive interests of either. Great 
Britain also agreed to make no settlement in Central America. 

Although their majority in the House of Representatives was 
lost in the congressional elections of 1847, the Democrats 
carried through, yet with difficulty, the remaining part of their 
program. The tariff was revised and, in compliance with the 
Democratic demand for a revenue tariff rather than a pro- 

' In 1853 the boundary line to the West between Mexico and California was 
settled by treaty. In the transaction the United States was represented by James 
Gadsden. This "purchase" or treaty, known as the Gadsden Purchase, added 
45.S3S square miles to the United States at a cost of f 10,000,000. 




117 Longitude West 107 from Greenwich 



WAR WITH MEXICO 345 

tective one, was reduced to thirty per cent ad valorem, a rate 
undisturbed until 1857, notwithstanding the great cost of the 
Mexican war. Congress also reestablished the "independent 
treasury" as it had been in 1840, and practically as it is to-day. 
The boundary of Oregon had been settled upon in fairness and 
honor in spite of the jingoism that had entered into the presi- 
dential campaign. 

While Congress was discussing the appropriation of $3,000,000 417. The 
for the settling of the Mexican boundary question and the Wilmot 

. . . proviso 

acquisition of new territory, David Wilmot, a Democrat from 
Pennsylvania, moved an amendment which provided that no 
territory procured by the use of the money should be opened to 
slavery. The proviso never became law, but it served as an 
argument in many subsequent debates on the ever present 
question of slavery. If the measure had passed, the principle 
of the Missouri Compromise would have been expressly violated, 
for most of the territory involved lay south of 36° 30'. This 
fact had the effect of greatly exciting the South, which now 
could perceive the determination of the North to prohibit the 
further extension of slavery.^ 

The Mexican cession had added to the map of the United 418. Eiec- 

States a vast territory suitable to agriculture and slave labor, I^°° 

and thus forced the further struggle over the slave question 1848; the 
upon the people. _ ^ ^ ^^J,^;^^. 

Notwithstanding the unusually successful administration of " Squatter 

Polk and Dallas, the Democrats nominated the ablest of their ^oyereign- 

. . . . *y 

conservative men, Lewis Cass of Michigan, for the presidency, 

and William O. Butler of Kentucky for the vice-presidency. 
They reaffirmed old platforms, but did not take a position on 
the pressing question of slavery. The Whigs saw in the con- 
ditions another opportunity for a military hero without a plat- 

• The Mexican war was unpopular in the North because of slavery in Texas and 
the possible slave territory that would result from the war. But in spite of argu- 
ment, ridicule, and aggressive opposition, the Democrats had fought a successful 
war for the second time, and to this date all territory that had been added since the 
days of Washington, in the aggregate more than quadrupling the original thirteen 
states, had been added by the Democratic party, the party of strict construction. 



346 



THE FAR WEST 



form, and nominated General Taylor, the victor of Monterey 
and Buena Vista, and, after a campaign resembling the Harrison 
campaign, "Old Rough and Ready," as he was affectionately 
called, was elected. It is interesting to note that New York 
sent two delegations to the Democratic convention. The 
faction that was conservati\'e on the slavery question was called 
"Hunkers"; the radical faction was called "Barn-Burners," 

from the story of a man who 
burned his barn to get rid of 
the rats. With weakness not 
peculiar to either of the lead- 
ing parties at the time, the 
convention decided to seat 
both delegations and divide 
the vote between them, where- 
upon both promptly withdrew. 
This action would have had 
little result if the Barn-Burners 
had not put up candidates 
themselves. They nominated 
Ex-President Van Buren, and 
Charles Francis Adams of 
Massachusetts, and became known as the Free-Soil party. 
They were endorsed by the old Liberty party, and thus be- 
came the successors of that party, and were supi)orted by Whigs 
and Democrats who believed with them on the slavery issue. 
They did not receive one electoral vote; but they polled about 
150,000 of the popular vote, took enough strength from the 
Democrats in New York to give that state to the .Whigs, and 
caused the election of Taylor. 

The Democrats, following the arguments of Stephen A. 
Douglas, had contended in the campaign that the question of 
slavery was one to be settled by the inhabitants of each state, 
and was, therefore, not a national question, thus preaching the 
state rights dogma, this phase being known afterward as " scjuat- 
ter sovereignty." The Whigs had said as little about slavery 




Zaciiary Taylor 



WAR WITH MEXICO 347 

as possible; they spent their time in shouting for the soldier 

who had commanded Captain Bragg to put in a Uttle more grape. 

The Free-Soil people had made the issue openly and squarely 

on the abolition of slavery. They said Congress "could not 

make slaves nor kings." There must be no more slave states 

nor slave territory ... "a free soil for a free people." They 

forced the fighting on an issue that was soon to split old parties 

and draw the political boundaries on the lines that separated 

the slave states from the North. 

Just before the signing of the treaty with Mexico, gold was 419. Gold 

discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. As soon as this be- *° ^f^^" 

forma 
came known there was a mad rush of gold hunters from all parts 







The Overland Route to California 

of the world. Thousands upon thousands went three thousand 
miles by land from the old states, their route marked by the 
bones of those who died on the way. Others took ship by the 
way of Cape Horn, while still others crossed the Isthmus of 
Panama and sailed thence to San Francisco. By the end of 
1S49 California had So,ooo inhabitants. All sorts of people 
had rushed in, and it soon became necessary to form a govern- 
ment to supplant the vigilance committees, whd had been 
created as a sort of law and order rule. In the year 1849 '^ 
convention was held, an anti-slavery constitution was formed, 
and California was asking for admission as a free state. 

Meantime, Iowa and Wisconsin had been admitted to the 420. Iowa 
Union as free states, and again the scales balanced — thirty consin ad- 
senators against thirty senators; and when Congress met in mitted; th( 
December, 1849, it seemed that the acquisition of the immense u^e again 
western territory had caused less trouble than must be under- 



348 



THE FAR WEST 



421. Clay's 
Compro- 
mise of 
1850 



422. An 

efl&cient 
Fugitive 
Slave Law; 



gone in determining what to do with it. By a judgment that 
out-Solomoned Solomon, the child California had been cut in 
two by the ^Missouri Compromise line, and would lie half in 
slave territory, and half in free territory, because neither of the 
contestants would relinquish its claim. And what should be 
done with the territories — with Utah and New Mexico, across 
whose potential areas the line of 36° 30' stretched its relentless 
course? And even Texas, which in those days had a Panhandle 
so long that its end was nearer to Canada than to Red river — 
what should be done with Texas? But these were not all of the 
troublesome questions. The anti-slavery people were vigor- 
ously demanding the abolishment of slaver}^ in the District of 
Columbia, while the South was complaining that the fugitive 
slave laws were constantly transgressed with impunity, and 
charging the Northern people with deliberately doing violence 
to the Constitution.^ 

Henry Clay, "the peacemaker," having been speaker of the 
House of Representatives in the stormy days of 1811-1S14, 
twice the nominee of his party for the presidency, its acknowl- 
edged leader and its idol, now bearing the scars of many a hard 
fought battle for his country, in whose service he had spent his 
activities and would spend his life, for the last time came for- 
ward and spoke peace to the troubled sea. He proposed in 
the Senate the Compromise of 1850, known from its many 
parts as the "Omnibus Bill." It provided that: (i) California 
should be admitted as a free state. (2) New Mexico and Utah 
should be organized and nothing said about slavery. (3) Texas 
should receive $10,000,000 for her claims to disputed territory 
in New Mexico. (4) The slave trade should be prohibited in 
the District of Columbia, but slavery should continue. (5) A 
more adequate fugitive slave law should be enacted. The 
measure passed after many bitter debates. 

That part of the Compromise of 1850 which had the greatest 
influence in hastening the final catastrophe was that which 
gave an efficient act for the rendition of fugitive slaves. By 

1 Constitution; Art. IV, Sec. ii, 3. 



WAR WITH MEXICO 349 

this date (1S50) judges and executive officers in Northern states '< Uncle 

had grown lax in the discharge of their duties. The law now 1°™'^ 

... Cabin ' 

took the matter out of the hands of state officers and put it into 

the hands of United States commissioners. Negroes could 
not testify, of course, and a simple affidavit by the owner, 
coupled with identification of the fugitive, was all that was 
necessary to authorize the officer to apprehend, arrest, and re- 
turn the negro to his master in a different and distant state. 
Immediately after the passage of the law, many of the com- 
missioners became "slave catchers" or "man hunters" as 
they were called ; they made a business of searching for negroes 
who had escaped during the last several years into free territory, 
and had been concealed and protected by their Northern sym- 
pathizers. It was but natural that the scenes incident to the 
arrest of these negroes among a people hostile to slavery, 
should stir men to anger and resistance. So great was the 
feeling, that many Northern states, violating the Constitution, 
passed "personal liberty laws," and citizens, individually and 
systematically, assisted negroes in escaping into Canada. Secret 
routes were arranged through which the fleeing negro could 
travel in safety; he was furnished with food, means of conceal- 
ment, and transportation; thousands of negroes made good 
their escape from their masters by these so-called "underground 
railways." 

When the excitement was at its greatest, Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe published her book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which imme- 
diately sold to the extent of 300,000 volumes. There was 
nothing particularly original in the book except its method of 
presentation. It expressed well the arguments in current use 
against slavery, and perhaps represented the average opinion 
of the North on that subject. But it caught the tense, inflam- 
mable imagination of the volatile public mind and the result was 
like an explosion. The book had very little truth in it, and 
what of truth there was existed only on the outskirts of the 
great slave territory under conditions produced by constant 
agitation of the question. At best, portraying what might 



35° 



THE FAR WEST 



tion of 
Pierce 



423. Death have been rather than what really was, it substituted the 

of Taylor; accidental for the usual and normal. 
President , , . 

Fillmore; Within two years after his election, President Taylor died, 

campaign of ^^^^ f^^. ^^le second time, a Whig vice-president succeeded to 
the presidency. The change to Fillmore produced no visible 
effects on the success of the Whig administration. But owing 
to the unstable condition of the public mind, for several succeed- 
ing elections, a party would turn from one leader to another, 
and the country would change from one party to another, 
seeking in \'ain for a solution of the problems that slavery had 

brought. And it was now that 
Jefferson's ominous words came 
to many minds: "Nothing is more 
certainly written in the book of 
fate than that these people are 
to be free; nor is it less certain 
that the two races, equally free, 
cannot live in the same govern- 
ment. " 

The Democrats met and passed 

over Lewis Cass, Stephen A. 

Douglas, and James Buchanan, 

the real leaders of the party, and 

nominated Franklin Pierce, of 

New Hampshire, a handsome 

young congressman, who had served in the Mexican war as a 

brigadier-general, and whose strength lay in the fact that 

"there was nothing against him." The party declared its old 

policies and its satisfaction with the Compromise of 1850; 

moreover, it reaffirmed the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions 

of a half century before. 

The Whigs trusted to strategy like that which had brought 
victory under General Harrison and General Taylor; they put 
aside every statesman and turned to the soldier, nominating 
General Scott, obtusely failing to regard the fact that he whom 
they probably called the "Conqueror of Mexico," was dubbed 







Millard Fillmore 



WAR WITH MEXICO 



351 



by his own soldiers "Old Fuss and Feathers." They declared 
allegiance to the compromise measures of 1S50; but the irritat- 
ing conditions of the fugitive slave act drove many of the 
Northern Whigs into apathy or into the ranks of the "Free- 
Soilers. ' ' The Free-Soil party met 
in Pittsburgh, August 11, and 
nominated John P. Hale of New 
Hampshire, and George W. Julian 
of Indiana. This party struck 
out boldly for the abolition of 
slavery. Their declaration was: 
"No more slave states, no more 
slave territories, no nationalized 
slavery, and no national legisla- 
tion for the extradition of slaves. " 
This party had passed the crest 
of its wave and served only for a 
place of refuge for the lukewarm 
members of the two other parties, 

those men who were willing to sink all things for one measure, 
and were without hope in regard to that. By a small margin 
the Democrats carried all but four states, to wit: Massachu- 
setts, Vermont, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Pierce received 254 
electoral votes, and Scott 41. 




Franklin Pierce 



SUMMARY 

The death of President Plarrison (1841) ruined the chances of the Whig 
party, and added thereby fuel to the flames of political strife which had 
already begun to burn. The question of the annexation of Texas had by 
this time become involved with the slavery issue and with it now became 
the center of political thought. Joined with the question of the annexation 
of Oregon it became the chief issue in the presidential campaign of 1844, 
the Democrats favoring and the Whigs opposing annexation. The Denjo- 
crats won and the administration proceeded at once to the task of annexing 
Texas — a matter which was concluded in February, 1846. This fight over 
Texas brought out in bold relief the differences over slavery, and also led to 
war with Mexico. This war lasted only two years and resulted in the 
further acquisition by the United States of a territory li\'e-eighths as large 



352 THE FAR WEST 

as the Louisiana Purchase, extending our possessions to the Pacific Ocean, 
and closing our work, of national expansion for a half century. The dis- 
covery of gold in California (184S) and the consequent settlement of that 
rich region made prominent again the slavery issue and led to the Compro- 
mise of 1S50, by which the impending conflict was postponed a few more 
years. And yet the dissension over slavery continued. The North nullified 
in practice the fugitive slave laws by resorting to the "underground rail- 
road, " and IMrs. Stowe aroused again in more violent form the abolition 
sentiment. The disintegration of political parties grew apace, the Whigs 
practically disappearing as a national organization. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Recite the circumstances that first put Tyler in the White House. 2. What 
led to a breach between Tyler and the Whigs? 3. What was the Wcbstcr-Ash- 
burton treaty? 4. What influences led to the settlement of Texas? 5. Where 
was Moses Austin's original home? Does this suggest to you a reason why 
Texas was settled? 6. How did the question of the annexation of Texas become 
bound up with the slavery issue? 7. What were some of the arguments for 
annexation? Against it? 8. What other region figured prominently in the cam- 
paign of 1S44? 9. What were the respective claims of Great Britain and the 
United States to the Oregon territory? How settled? 10. Show the relation of 
the annexation of Texas to the Mexican war. 11. Why should Texas be said to 
be annexed, and Missouri admitted? 12. Can you see any reason for calling the 
war with Mexico a war for the extension of slavery? 13. What territory did the 
United States acquire by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo? 14. What bearing 
did this new region have upon the slavery question? 15. Who were the "forty 
niners, " and what gave them special importance in our country's history? 

16. What were the circumstances that brought about the Compromise of 1850? 

17. Which gained the more by this measure, the North or the South? Why? 

18. How did this compromise affect the slavery issue? 19. What was the Wilmot 
proviso? 20. How did the question of an Isthmian canal arise about 1850, and what 
famous treaty was made as a consequence? 21. Was Uncle Tom's Cabin a natural 
product of the times? How did it aSect abolition sentiment? 22. What was the 
nature of the Walker Tariff (1S46)? 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Burgess, The Middle Period; Rhodes, History of 
the United States from the Compromise of 1850, vol. i; H. von Hoist, Constitutional 
History of the United Stales, v; Morse, Abraham Lincoln, vol. i; Wilson, Division 
and Reunion. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iv; MacDonald, Select Docu- 
ments; American History Leaflets, Nos. 2, 17, 23; U. S. Government; Official Records 
of the War, vol. i. 

Illustrative Material. — Tourgee, Hot Plowshares, Bricks Without Straw; 
Whittier, Anti-slavery Poems. 

THE DISORDERS IN KANSAS 

John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, America's 424, The 
peerless triumvirate of forensic peers had passed away. The ^^ states 
first, from the far South, the ablest champion of her constitu- 
tional rights; the last, the lion of the North, her exponent and 
seer; Clay, the great peacemaker between angry brethren on 
either hand, the Colossus of his time; all had been laid to rest 
before the final trial of fratricidal strength, Calhoun in 1S50, 
Clay on June 29, 1852, and Webster on October 25 of the same 
year. Each had done his duty as he saw it, developing, con- 
centrating, and exhausting his transcendent genius in the ser- 
vice of his grateful country. 

The times had brought to the front, to take the places of the 
passing statesmen, among the Democrats, Stephen A. Douglas 
of Illinois, and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, while Alexander 
H. Stephens was among the last great Southern Whigs. The 
anti-slavery movement in the North fell into the strong hands 
of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, Charles Sumner of Massachu- 
setts, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and William H. Seward of 
New York. 

353 



354 RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

425. The Notwithstanding the quiet elections of 1852, the storm burst 

^''"*°''^°f again when Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, chairman 

the Kansas- of the Committee on Territories, introduced a bill on January 4, 

Nebraska iS?4, for the territorial organization of Nebraska, leaving the 
bill — 1854 ^^' ° . . . " . 

question of slavery to the people resident in the territory. This 

was by no means the first bill which had sought to organize this 
region, but it became the leading issue now because there was 
no other especially prominent question like the Mexican war 
and the acquisition of the Far West to absorb public attention, 
and because also it brought to the front again the slavery issue 
which had by this time become uppermost in the thoughts and 
feelings of practically all of the people North, South, East, and 
West. Furthermore, the central portion of the Louisiana 
Purchase territory was rapidly growing in importance because 
its resources were becoming known to the whole country. The 
constant stream of immigration that found its way to the 
promised land on the Pacific had the important effect of popu- 
lating the fertile prairies between the Missouri river and the 
Rocky mountains. The people in this region naturally wshed 
to establish definite legal relations with the United States, and 
under ordinary circumstances there would have been no objec- 
tion to the Douglas bill. But that part of the measure which 
provided that "all questions pertaining to slavery in the terri- 
tories and the new states formed therefrom are to be left to the 
decision of the people residing therein, by their appropriate 
representatives," aroused the animus of the North, and when, 
through the influence of Southern senators, Senator Douglas 
introduced a new bill, the Kansas-Nebraska bill, with the addi- 
tional provision that the Missouri Compromise was "super- 
seded by the principle of the legislation of 1S50," the North was 
beside itself with rage. Protests poured in upon Congress from 
• state legislatures, from mass meetings, and from all sorts of 
anti-slavery organizations. The measure was denounced in 
Congress by such men as Chase and Seward as an "atrocious 
plot," as "the enormous crime," and as everything generally 
wicked. The bill, amended so as to make two territories in- 



THE DISORDERS IN KANSAS 355 

stead of one, had its precedent in the Compromise of 1850 for 
the territorial governments of Utah and New Mexico, arising 
out of the Mexican cession. It was charged by the opponents 
of the Kansas-Nebraska bill that the Utah-New Mexico Com- 
promise had reference only to that territory and was not meant 
to repeal the Missouri Compromise of 1S20, and that it was the 
boldest effrontery and the worst of bad faith to disturb what 
had been settled for thirty years. But such was the superb 
leadership of Douglas, the only man in the Congress capable of 
impelling such a measure to success, that it passed the Senate 
by a vote of 37 to 14 and the House by 113 to 100. On May 
30, 1854, President Pierce, a Democrat from New Hampshire, 
signed the bill, and it thus became a law. 

Pro-slavery and anti-slavery movements began at once within 426. The 

the territories and toward them from without. North and .^®T J?'^^' 

land Enu- 
South made preparations for the mevitable struggle for posses- grant Aid 

sion of Kansas — a region which, it had been supposed, would co^P^^^y 
become a slave state. Anti-slavery organizations were formed 
with the express puq^ose to "assist emigrants to settle in the 
West." Chief among such organizations was the New England 
Emigrant Aid company, whose objects, as stated by Mrs. Sarah 
Robinson, the wife of the agent of the company, "were to induce 
emigrants to move westward in such large bodies that arrange- 
ments might be made with boat lines and railroads for tickets 
at reduced rates; to erect sawmills and boarding houses, and 
establish schools in different localities, that the people might 
gather around them, and not be obliged to wait years for the 
blessings and pri\-ileges of social life. . ." Prizes were offered 
for the songs that would best stir up public interest in Kansas. 
The following from a "Call to Kanzas" by Lucy Larcom (1855) 
is significant. 

"One and all, hear our call 

Echo through the land! 
Aid us with the willing heart 

And the strong right hand! 
Feed the spark the Pilgrim struck 

On old Plymouth Rock! 



356 



RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 



To the watchfires of the free 
Millions glad shall flock. 

Ho! brothers! Come, brothers! 
Hasten all with me, 

We'll sing upon the Kanzas plains, 
A song of Liberty. " 



427. So- 
cieties 
formed in 
Missouri 
for active 
work in 
Kansas 



428. Immi- 
grants with 
breech- 
loading 
rifles; 
" Border 
Ruffians " 



In the meantime, the pro-slavery people were by no means 
idle. Colonel John Scott, a citizen of St. Joseph, Missouri, 
wrote as follows of the interest in Kansas: "It was but a short 
time after the passage of that act (Kansas-Nebraska Act) that 
we learned through the papers about the forming of a society 
in the east for the purpose of promoting the settlement of Kan- 
sas territory, with the view of making it a free state. Missouri, 
being a slave state, and believing that an effort of that kind, 
if successful, would injure her citizens in the enjoyment of their 
slave property, the Missourians were indignant, and became 
determined to use all means in their power to counteract the 
efforts of eastern people upon that subject. . . Most of the 
slaves in the state of Missouri are in the western border counties, 
or the hemp-growing portion of Missouri. . . I do not think 
I would have suggested to any one in Missouri the forming of 
societies in Missouri but for these eastern societies, and they 
were formed but as a means of self-defence. . . All that 
Missourians asked was that the principles of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Act be carried out, and the actual settlers of the 
territory v/anted to manage their own domestic institutions for 
themselves." 

The Emigrant Aid Society brought out its first colony in the 
summer of 1854, and by March, 1S55, their town of Lawrence, 
with every sign of New England parentage, was a prosperous 
and promising little village. For three years immigrants 
poured into Kansas from the north, bringing with them a new 
weapon of argument, the Sharps' rifle, and singing with the 
zeal of a crusader: 

"We cross the prairie as of old the i)i]grims crossed the sea, 
To make the West, as they the East, the homestead of the free. " 



THE DISORDERS IN KANSAS 



357 



In the meantime, "Border Ruffians" from Missouri, as the 
anti-slavery people were pleased to call them, were coming into 
Kansas and attempting to control the elections. In 1854 they 
elected their candidate to Congress, and in March, 1855, they 
succeeded -in electing a large majority of the legislature. Many 
of the votes cast in these elections were wholly fraudulent, but 




^ A Kansas Voting-place or 1855 
After Photograph of Sketch owned by Kansas Historical Society 

the pro-slavery legislature removed to a place near the border, 
over the protest of the governor, and proceeded to protect their 
"peculiar" institution with the arm of the law (July, 1855). 

In the following November the anti-slavery people met at 429. War 
Topeka, framed a constitution, prepared to institute a govern- [_ ^g^ ' 
ment of their own liking, and knocked for admission into the 
Union as a free state. They declared that "if slavery in Mis- 
souri is impossible with freedom in Kansas, then slavery in 
JVIissouri must die that freedom in Kansas may li\'e. " Threats 



358 RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

and counter-threats followed until the spring of 1856, when civil 
war broke out. The anti-slavery men had fortified their town 
of Lawrence with earthworks, and had supplied themselves 
with artillery. When a dastardly assassin on the streets of 
Lawrence shot the sherifif who was endeavoring to arrest a 
citizen of the town the "Border Ruffians" retaliated. They 
stormed the place (May 21, 1856), destroyed both public and 
private property, and killed several people. Shortly after- 
ward John Brown and his four sons, with a squad of followers, 
wreaked vengeance upon the pro-slavery people by stealthily 
attacking their settlement at Pottawatomie in the darkness of 
the night and killing a few of the inhabitants in cold blood. 
President Pierce was inclined at first to keep hands off, but in 
July he seemed to take the side of the pro-slavery men when he 
caused to be dissolved the anti-slavery legislature in session at 
Topeka. Two months later, however, his newly appointed 
governor, Geary of Pennsylvania, used the United States troops 
to expel the "Border Ruffians" from Kansas, and civil war 
came to an end. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1856 

430. The The Whigs had lost the presidential election of 1852, and now 

5"°jy" the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska bill completely demoral- 

Nothings — . ' 

1856 ized that party, while the Democrats lost the House through 

defections of their Northern brethren. The general shaking-up 
of parties proved a favorable time for organizing a new one. 
In 1854, the American party, or "Know Nothings" ' elected 
their candidates for the governorship in Massachusetts and in 
Delaware. "Before the new House met in December, 1855, 
the 'Know-Nothings' had carried New Hampshire, Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Kentucky, 

' The "Know-Nothing" party was so called because of its professions and signs, 
chief of which seemed to be "I don't know." Its motto was "America for Ameri- 
cans." Immigration was pouring into the country and those who had been here a 
short time became alarmed for fear that those who had been here a shorter time 
would overrun the country. There was an element of opposition to Catholics in it 
also. 



CAMPAIGN OF 1856 359 

and California, and had polled handsome votes which fell very 
little short of being majorities in six Southern states. "^ 

The Know-Nothings met in Philadelphia, February 22, 1856, 431. The 
reaffirmed their platform of Americanism, disregarded the p^tforms 
dominant question of the hour, and nominated ex-President and candi- 
Fillmore as their candidate. The Democrats met in June at ^g^^. ^j^^ 
Cincinnati, reaffirmed their old faith, endorsed the Compromise Ostend 
of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and, seeking a conserva- Buchanan' 
tive candidate, nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, elected 
whose mission as minister to England during the past four 
years had kept him out of the strenuous contest. John C. 
Breckinridge of Kentucky was nominated for vice-president. 

In the meantime, a political party which had already gathered 
around the anti-slavery sentiment held its first convention at 
Jackson, IVIichigan, July 6, 1S54. It was an enthusiastic state 
meeting of abolitionists, and was so large as to necessitate open 
air sessions. It denounced slavery in scathing terms, favored 
the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, resolved to "act corr 
dially and faithfully in union" against the one institution which 
was a great "moral, social, and political evil." The members 
of this convention called themselves "Republicans." Ohio, 
Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Vermont fol- 
lowed in the lead of Michigan, and on February 22, 1856, a 
national Republican party was organized. On the following 
June 17, the first national nominating convention met in Phila- 
delphia. It was evident that it was to be the party of the 
North. No Southern states were represented except Maryland, 
Delaware, and Kentucky. John C. Fremont, a prominent 
figure in California, was selected as the standard bearer. The 
party struck out boldly against the extension of slavery in the 
territories, maintaining that Congress had no right to make 
slaves anywhere. It pronounced strongly against the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska Act, and against the effort recently made by 
the Pierce administration to add Cuba to America, naming 
and condemning the Ostend Manifesto, a document sent out 

' Wilson's Division and Reunion, p. 186. 



36o 



RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 



432. His- 
tory of the 
Dred Scott 
case 




James Buchanan 



from Ostend, Belgium, by the three American ministers of 
England, France, and Spain, in which they took the ground 
that if Spain should persist in her refusal to sell Cuba to 

the United States, the island 
should be seized as a neces- 
sity. The i)arty also urged 
appropriations for internal im- 
provements, especially for a 
railroad to the Pacific ocean. 
It is easily seen that the plat- 
form embraced the doctrine of 
the Anti-Nebraska, Free-Soil, 
and Whig creeds. The cam- 
paign cry was, "Free soil. Free 
men, Fre-mont! " 

The Democrats won. Bu- 
chanan received i ,83 8 , 1 69 votes 
while the new Republican party 
polled 1,341,264, carrying every Northern state except Penn- 
sylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and Illinob;. The Democrats 
and Republicans now faced each other. The Whigs and Know- 
Nothings disappeared. 

CONTINUED STRUGGLES OVER SLAVERY 

Mr. Buchanan was scarcely seated in the executive chair 
before the whole country was stirred by the decision of the 
Supreme Court, Roger B. Taney of Maryland being chief 
justice, in the Dred Scott case, a premeditated attempt of anti- 
slavery men to test slavery in the courts. In brief, Dred Scott 
was a negro, belonging to an army officer whose home was in 
Missouri. In the discharge of his duties the master of this 
slave had taken him into Illinois, a free state, and across. the 
Mississippi river into what is now IVIinnesota, that is, north of 
36° 30', and afterward had brought him back to his home in 
Missouri. In the meantime, Scott had married in a free terri- 
tory and a child had been born to him there. The family were 



CONTINUED STRUGGLES OVER SLAVERY 361 

now held as slaves in Missouri. The negro appealed to the 
courts for his freedom on the ground that his residence in free 
territory had destroyed his master's proprietary rights in him. 
The Supreme Court of the state of Missouri refused to support 
Scott's claim. The negro had now become the property of a 
citizen of New York, and suit for freedom was instituted in the 
United States Circuit Court of Missouri. When this court, too, 
pronounced against Scott, appeal was made to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. This tribunal held that "upon the 
facts stated in the plea in abatement, Dred Scott was not a 
citizen of Missouri within the meaning of the Constitution, and 
not entitled to sue in its Courts . . . that the Act of Congress 
which prohibited a citizen from holding and owning property 
of this kind in the territory of the United States north of the 
line therein mentioned, is not warranted by the Constitution, 
and is therefore void, and that neither Dred Scott himself, nor 
any of his family, were made free by being carried into this 
territory; even if they had been carried there by the owner, 
with the intention of becoming a permanent resident. . . 
As Scott was a slave when taken into the State of Illinois by 
his owner, and was there held as such, and brought back in 
that character, his status, as free or slave, depended on the 
laws of Missouri, and not of Illinois. " The decision upheld 
the whole contention of the slave states and was a heavy blow 
to the other side. 

John W. Burgess, in his The Middle Period, has this to say 433. Com- 
of the result of the decision: "The slaveholders and the Douglas pj-o^gggo^ 
Democrats of the North were in high glee over the decision, and Burgess 
hardly stopped to read the powerful dissenting opinion which 
had shattered it to atoms. They caused thousands upon 
thousands of copies of the decision to be printed and distributed 
among the masses of the people. The Free-Soilers did the same 
thing with the opinion of Justice Curtis. It was not many 
weeks before it became entirely manifest that the cause of 
slavery had lost immensely in the decision, and the cause of 
free-soilism had gained in the same degree. Justice Curtis 



362 



RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 



434. Re- 
newed 
trouble in 
Kansas — • 
1858 



had demonstrated that the decision had cast the responsibility 
for the further extension of slavery uj^on the nation, and the 
nation now began to show its resolution to meet its respon- 
sibility by acquitting itself of any participation in this great 
wrong, in the only manner now left to it, that is, by preventing 
it. The nation could no longer deceive itself with the idea that 
it could stand neutral. The Court had actually swei)t away the 
dogma of popular sovereignty in the Territories. The nation 
must now neither prohibit, nor allow the Territorial govern- 
ments to prohibit, slavery within the territories, as the decision 
would have it, or the nation must itself prohibit it, as the dis- 
senting opinion would have it." 

The use of United States troops to put an end to civil war in 
Kansas, and the excitement aroused by the Dred Scott case, 
had temporarily forced Kansas into the background. But it 
was only temporarily. Robert J. Walker, successor of Geary 
as governor in Kansas, issued a call for a constitutional con- 
vention, which met at Lecompton in September, 1857. The 
anti-slavery men refused to attend this convention, and the 
"pros" hastily submitted a constitution guaranteeing all prop- 
erty in slaves. The ballot which they offered was for "Con- 
stitution with slavery," or for "Constitution without slavery." 
In either case existing slave property was protected because 
every vote would be for the constitution of necessity. The 
"antis" stayed away from the polls and the "pros" won over- 
whelmingly (December 21, 1857). A few days later the antis 
submitted their Topeka Constitution with ballots as follows: 
"Constitution with slavery," "Constitution with no slavery," 
"Constitution." This time the "pros" stayed away from the 
polls, and the "antis" won overwhelmingly, the vote against 
the constitution being more than 10,000. President Buchanan 
favored the organization of Kansas under the Lecompton Con- 
stitution and, over the protest of Douglas and the Republicans, 
urged a bill looking to that end through the Senate The 
House, however, blocked the president's plans but agreed to 
re-submit the constitution to the people of Kansas. It was 



CONTINUED STRUGGLES OVER SLAVERY 363 

rejected a second time (1858) by a vote of more than five to 
one, and the territory was not admitted as a state until 1861. 

The questions were thoroughly discussed and the lines drawn 435. The 
in Illinois in 1858, when Stephen A. Douglas, the ablest of the Lincoln and 
Western and Northern Democrats, sought reelection to the debates — 
Senate. The Republicans had found a new and powerful ^^58 
champion in the person of their coming greatest leader, Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Lincoln and Douglas, in a series of debates, 
attracted the attention of the entire country as they drew the 
clearest lines of cleavage between the parties. The issue be- 
tween them was the seat of sovereignty over the territories. 
Douglas advocated the doctrine of popular or "squatter" 
sovereignty. That is, he defended the proposition that the 
people of a territory had the right to settle for themselves the 
question of slavery in that territory. Lincoln took the ground 
that that matter rested properly in the hands of Congress; that 
Congress, having created the territory, should certainly have 
at least final jurisdiction over all questions of organization. 
Should the child control the parent? 

Lincoln lost the election to the Senate, but his speeches gave 
him the Republican nomination for the presidency, and thus 
made his election to that office a possibiHty. Said he: "A house 
divided against itself cannot stand. I do not expect it to fall, 
but I do expect it to cease to be divided. It must be all slave 
or all free." Mr. Lincoln seems to have been the first to reach 
that advanced position, when all parties were seeking compro- 
mises and postponements. 

President Buchanan sent a message to Congress, December 6, 436. An- 
1858, urging steps toward the annexation of Cuba, and the cuba* urged 
establishment of a protectorate over "the dissolving Mexican 
republics that lay nearest her borders." Anticipating Presi- 
dent Roosevelt by fifty years, he also urged Congress "to make 
good the rights of the United States on the Isthmus (Panama) 
against Nicaragua and Costa Rica." 

In 1859, John Brown, a native of Connecticut, who, with his 437. The 
four sons, had gone from Ohio to Kansas to aid in the destruction Harper's 



364 



RISE OF THE REPUBLIC AX PARTY 



Ferry in- 
surrection 
— 1859 



of slavery in that territory, enlarged the scope of his insane 
ambition to include the freedom of the negroes throughout the 
South by inciting a general uprising among them. With twenty 
like-minded fanatics, he seized a small arsenal at Harper's 
Ferry on the Potomac in Virginia, hoping to free all the negroes 
in the country, arrest their masters, and ilee to the mountains 
from which he would sally again in a short while in the light of 
the fires which his bold deed would kindle. Following his plans, 

he invaded the surround- 
ing farms, took thirty or 
forty slaves, and had them 
in practical captivnty, until 
he himself was captured 
by United States marines. 
The most of his party were 
slain. He was tried and 
condemned to death in the 
courts of Virginia, on De- 
cember 2, 1859, forty-six 
days after his attack at 
Harper's Ferry. "His pa- 
tient, dignified bearing" in his imprisonment and trial, and his 
resigned acceptance of his fate, indicate a man whose consum- 
ing idea had rendered him insane, or, according to some, a 
man whose consecration to the accomplishment of a great pur- 
pose had given him the self-forgetfulness of a true patriot or a 
Christian martyr. 

Brown's raid acted like the touch of a match to a powder 
house. The South had good reason to believe that anti-slavery 
men furnished the money and arms for the undertaking, and 
when men at the North, like Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo 
Emerson, praised Brown as a martyr to the sacred cause of 
liberty, the South felt that the demons of rapine and plunder 
had been turned loose upon her homes, and that too by men 
who should have understood better the peculiar dangers which 
threatened her civilization. 




Harper's Ferry in 1859 



"^^i* 



",0^ 



CONTINUED STRUGGLES OVER SLAVERY 365 

The platforms of all the political parties had reference to the 438. Cam- 
question of slavery, which had now become acute. In the ^^^q. ^j 
nominating conventions of i860, pathetic appeals were made to tion of 
men to forget the negro and save the Union. But men were *°*^° ° 
enraged, and trouble was imminent. On questions concerning 
the effects of the Dred Scott decision, the Democrats divided 
into two sections. The Northern wing nominated the redoubt- 
able Douglas, who held that each state and the Supreme Court 
must settle the slavery question. The Southern wing nomi- 
nated vice-president John C. Breckinridge, who asserted the 
right of slaveholders to take their slaves into the territories 
under protection of specific laws. A new party, heir of the 
Know-Nothings, came into existence, called the Constitu- 
tional Union party, whose platform was "The Constitution, 
the union of states, and the enforcement of law." This party 
nominated John Bell of Tennessee for president. The Republi- 
cans met in Chicago, May 16, and, passing over Seward and 
Chase, the national leaders, nominated Abraham Lincoln of 
Illinois, who had given a good account of himself in the famous 
debates with the foremost Democrat of the nation. Lincoln 
received 1,866,452 votes, 481,295 more than Douglas received, 
but less than half the total vote cast, which was 4,690,193. 
While Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes against 123 for 
Douglas, Bell, and Breckinridge, he had not received a popular 
majority. Though his platform demanded the restriction of 
slavery to the territory it then occupied, yet the Republicans 
recognized the constitutional rights of the states to mainti^in 
the institution, and really the Democrats had not lost by very 
great odds and were in position to keep up the old fight in Con- 
gress. Lincoln was a minority president and the Republicans 
did not have a majority in either house of Congress. The 
parliamentary struggle might have been continued indefinitely; 
for to overthrow slavery where it already existed would have 
required an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States. But the South was tired of the eternal question and 
held the doctrine of the state's right to secede. 



366 



RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 



439. South 

Carolina 

secedes, 

December, 

i860 



SECESSION 

Though the contention of the South was historically and con- 
stitutionally correct, yet times had changed, and conditions 
in the South prevented a corresponding change. The growth 
of a population, energetic, enterprising, and efficient, that had 
brought the nation to a consciousness of itself, had been North, 
East, and West. The South, proud and self-sufficient, had not 
invited progress or immigration. The Union, long sectionalized 

socially and economically, had 
become sectionalized politically, 
as a necessary result. Condi- 
tions had become logically and 
\-itally intolerable and impossi- 
ble. The threat to resort to 
rather than remain a 



CHARLESTON 

MERCURY 



EXTRA. 



' ao/A.IMO. 
AH^ ORDINANCE 



MJL ^- ^** Otf*mb*r 



UNION 

DISSOL\GD! 

A Charleston Broadside 



secession, 



party to a union wherein dis- 
cordant interests strove always 
for mastery, and obligations to 
organic law must be set aside 
when private opinion clashed 
with such obligation, proved to 
l)e a fair warning. The election 
of Lincoln convinced the South- 
ern people "that they were to 
be depri\-cd in the Union of the 
rights which their fathers be- 
(jueathed them." ^ 

Anticipating the result of the 
election, the South Carolina leg- 
islature remained in session until it learned of Lincoln's suc- 
cess, and then called a state convention, which met at Co- 
lumbia, December 17, i860, and adjourned at once to Charles- 
ton, where on December 20 it passed a "Secession Ordinance" 
declaring that "the Union now subsisting between South 

> Jefferson Davis, in speech of resignation in U. S. Senate, 1861. 



SECESSION 



367 



Carolina and the other states under the name of the United 
States, is hereby dissolved." The result was received with 
great rejoicing, and in her sister states of the South there began 
preparation to prove unbounded sympathy by vigorous co- 
operation. 

On December 22, the South Carolina convention appointed 440. The 
three commissioners, "to proceed to Washington, authorized ..°" "° 
and empowered to treat with the Government of the United missioners 
States for the delivery of the forts, magazines, light-houses, and 
other real estate, with their appurtenances, within the limits 




Sketch-map of Forts in Charleston Harbor 



of South Carolina; and also for an apportionment of the public 
debt and for a division of all other property held by the Govern- 
ment of the United States as agent of the confederated states, 
of which South Carolina was recently a member; and, generally, 
to negotiate as to all other measures and arrangements proper 
to be made and adopted in the existing relations of the parties, 
and for the continuance of peace and amity between this Com- 
monwealth and the Government at Washington." 

Old Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, commanding the 441. Occu- 
entrance to Charleston harbor, was garrisoned by two small p**^°^°^ 
companies of artillery under Major Robert Anderson of the ter, Decem- 
United States army. Out in the water, upon a shoal some ^^^ ^^ 
eighteen hundred yards southwestward, stood Fort Sumter, as 



368 



RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 



442. Prep- 
aration for 
war; the 
" Star of 
the West," 
January 9, 
1861 



yet unfinished, a polygon of masonry with walls defensible by a 
small force, and with guns that could dominate harbor and city. 
It was a much stronger position than Moultrie, which could 
easily be surprised on the land side; so Major Anderson, on the 
evening of December 26, spiked the guns of Fort Moultrie and 
quietly transferred the garrison and stores to the new fort, 
which he at once began to strengthen. 

Events followed rapidly. On the 27th, the governor of South 
Carolina demanded that Major Anderson evacuate Fort Sumter 
and reoccupy Fort Moultrie, but Major Anderson replied that 
he had been assigned to the defense of Charleston harbor, and 
intended to defend it. On the same day the palmetto flag was 
hoisted upon the custom-house, and South Carolina forces took 
possession of Fort Moultrie, and also of Castle Pinckney, a 
small fort nearer the city. On the 28th the three South Caro- 
lina commissioners, now in Washington, addressed a letter to 
the president of the United States, transmitting a copy of their 
powers for treating with the government at Washington, fur- 
nishing an official copy of the ordinance of secession of South 
Carolina, but declaring in substance that the action of Major 
Anderson in dismantling one fort and occupying another forced 
the said commissioners to suspend all discussion as to any 
arrangements for an amicable adjustment, and urging upon the 
president the immediate withdrawal of the troops from the 
harbor of Charleston. On the 29th, the United States arsenal 
in Charleston was surrendered to South Carolina forces acting 
under orders of Governor Pickens. On the 30th, General Win- 
field Scott, commander-in-chief of the United States army, 
requested of President Buchanan the permission, "without 
reference to the War Department and otherwise as secretly as 
possible, to send two hundred and fifty recruits from New York 
harbor to reenforce Fort Sumter, together with some extra 
muskets or rifles, ammunition, and subsistence stores." On 
January i, 1861, volunteer troops of the state began to pour 
into Charleston. On the 5th there sailed from New York the 
steamer Star of the West, bearing troops and provisions for the 



SECESSION 



369 



relief of Fort Sumter. At midnight of the 8th the Star of the 
West arrived ofT Charleston harbor; and on the 9th, while she 
was attempting to make Fort Sumter, was fired upon by a 
South Carolina battery, and was forced to turn about and put 
to sea. 

Meantime, United States senators from Georgia, Alabama, 443. A new 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida met (Jan. ^onfeder- 
5) and passed resolutions to the effect that in their judgment jected 






mv 




Charleston in 1861 
Looking across Cooper river 

each of the Southern states should, as soon as possible, secede 

from the Union and provide for a convention to be held in 

Montgomery, Alabama, not later than February 15, for the 

purpose of forming a confederacy. In giving this advice the 

Senators barely anticipated the action of some of the states 

involved, and barely echoed the invitation which the South 

Carolina convention had already sent to her sister Southern 

states — an invitation to send delegates to meet in a congress 

in Montgomery on February 4, to form a confederacy. 

While these events were occurring in the South, great effort 444. The 

was being made to save the Union by compromise. Mr, Crit- Crittenden 
° , •' ' ^ resolutions 

tenden of Kentucky introduced in the United States Senate 



370 RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

a series of resolutions which would make the Missouri Com- 
promise line of 36° 30' the boundary between the slave and the 
free states as far west as California — and as the Supreme 
Court in the Dred Scott case had decided that "slavery could 
not be prohibited in any of the Territories by act of Congress, 
he presented his proposition of compromise in the form of a 
constitutional amendment" to be submitted to the states. 
There were many petitions to Congress favoring this compromise 
amendment, and Southern senators, Mr. Davis and Mr. Toombs 
among them, together with the conservative Northern senators, 
greatly desired to see Mr. Crittenden's measure prevail; and it 
was because they speedily foresaw, from the disposition mani- 
fested by the Northern extremists, that the bill would fail of 
passage, that these Southern senators united in advising their 
states to withdraw from the Union as already related. 
445. The On January 29 Virginia invited all the other states to send 

failure of delegates to a Peace Congress, or Convention, which held its 
Conference sessions in Washington during almost the entire month of 
February. At this convention more than twenty states w^re 
represented. Its presiding officer was ex-President John Tyler, 
and among its members were many men already celebrated and 
others to become so. Mr. Salmon P. Chase, within a few days to 
be appointed secretary of the treasury by Mr. Lincoln, in a nota- 
ble speech practically acknowledged that the Northern Repub- 
licans found it impossible to obey the Constitution in the matter 
of the fugitive slave laws; he said, in effect, that the South was 
immoral in contending for slavery, and that the North was 
compelled to act unlawfully or to admit conscious culpability. 
He went so far as to suggest that the South should be repaid 
for the loss of fugitive slaves, not by "rendition" of the slaves 
themselves, but by compensating the owners, apparently un- 
conscious that his language carried a strong implication that for 
his own state he preferred secession rather than a toleration of 
partnership in iniquity. "The proposition to pay for the 
dereliction of duty on the part of faithless confederates out of 
the Federal treasury amounted to an oflfer to increase the 



SECESSION 371 

wrong. In that way the people of the Southern states would 
have become equally burdened as those of the Northern with 
the taxes required to make good the shortcomings of t"he latter. 
No good came of the Peace Congress. Its results rather widened 
than healed the sectional breach." Still, the efforts did not 
cease. On February 28 the secretary of war informed Major 
Anderson that the Peace Convention had agreed upon a basis 
of settlement of political difficulties which had been reported to 
Congress, and that he entertained hope that nothing hostile 
would now occur. 

But Congress rejected, by a large majority vote, the plan 
which the Peace Convention had agreed upon. 

After the failure of the Star of the West expedition, President 4*6. 
Buchanan made no effort to relieve Fort Sumter. Probably no poUcy 
written agreement was ever made, yet it was generally under- 
stood that neither the government of the United States nor 
that of South Carolina would commit any act of hostility ; ^ and 
a state of tacit armistice was generally accepted as existing for 
the remainder of President Buchanan's administration. Never- 
theless, as other states, one by one, went out of the old Union, 
each of them took possession of the United States property, 
and occupied such forts as were within her borders. Near 
Pensacola, Florida, however, the officer in command of the few 
United States troops transferred them to Fort Pickens on 
Santa Rosa Island, and this fort remained permanently in 
possession of the United States forces. 

Conventions of the people of the respective states passed 447. Seces- 
ordinances of secession in the following order: January 9, states 

1 Governor Moore of Alabama says: "I have had a conference with Senator 
Mallory of Florida and Senator Fitzpatrick of Alabama ... in which they informed 
me that they and Senator Slidell had a personal interview with the President and 
Secretary of the Navy, and were assured by them that no attack would be made 
upon Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens, or any excuse given for the shedding of blood, 
during the present administration." O. R., I, 446. 

General Bragg says: "They have placed an engineer ofiGcer in Fort Pickens in 
violation, as I conceive, of the agreement not to reenforce. I do not hesitate to 
believe we are entirely absolved from all obligations under the agreement of 29th 
January," 0. R., I, 457- 



372 RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

Mississippi; January lo, Florida; January ii, Alabama; 
January 19, Georgia; January 26, Louisiana; February i, 
Texas. Each of these states appointed delegates, in number 
equal to its representatives and senators in Congress, to meet 
in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, for the purpose of 
forming a new federal government based upon the terms of the 
Constitution of the United States, and, almost without excep- 
tion, the representatives and senators from the seceding states 
withdrew from the federal Congress in which they felt they 
were no longer entitled to sit. So, too, Southern officers of the 
army and navy of the United States resigned their commissions 
and offered their services to their native states. 

THE CONFEDERATE STATES 
448. For- Qn February 4, 1S61, the day of the assembling of the Peace 
the Confed- Convention at Washington, the delegates of six Southern 

erate states; states^ met at Montgomery, Alabama, and, according to in- 

February, . . , . ■' . 1 i r 

i86i structions from their respective states, proceeded to form a 

government for a new Union. This Congress, like the Con- 
tinental Congress of 1 775-1 790, was composed of but one 
House; it elected Howell Cobb, former speaker of the House 
of Representatives of the United States, president of the Con- 
gress, and immediately began to frame a Constitution for the 
Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America. 
On the Sth, a provisional constitution, creating a government 
for one year, was adopted by a unanimous vote; and also by 
unanimous vote on February 9, the Congress elected for one 
year, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, president, and, Alexander 
H. Stephens of Georgia, vice-president, of the Confederate 
States of America. Mr. Davis was inaugurated on February 18. 
Meanwhile, the Congress had been framing a Constitution for 
a permanent government, which, after being ratified by the 
conventions of five states or more, should take effect in the 

1 Texas had passed an ordinance of secession and it had been referred back to 
the people for ratification in an election to be held February 23. Her delegates 
took their scats in llie Confederate Congress on March 2. 



THE CONFEDERATE STATES 373 

states so ratifying on February 22, 1862. The permanent Con- 
stitution also received the unanimous vote of the Congress on 
March 11, 1861, seven states now composing the Confederacy. 

The instrument followed, in general, the form of the United 449. The 
States Constitution, but differed from it in a few important coHltSon 
provisions, as follows: 

In the preamble were inserted the words, "each state acting 
in its sovereign and independent character." 

The president and ^•ice-president should hold their offices for 
a term of six years, and the president should not be reeligible. 

No duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations 
should be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry. 
And there should be no tax or duty laid on articles exported 
from any state, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses. 

Importation of negro slaves was forbidden from all foreign 
countries except the slaveholding states of the United States. 

In all new territory acquired, the "institution of Negro 
slavery as it now exists in the Confederate States" should be 
recognized and protected by Congress and by the territorial 
governments. 

Fugitive slaves should be delivered upon claim of the owner; 
and owners of slaves should have the right to take their slaves 
into any state of the Confederacy. 

Congress should have no power to appropriate money for 
any internal improvement intended to facilitate commerce, 
except in the matter of aid to navigation upon the coasts, and 
the improvement of harbors, and the removing of obstructions 
in river navigation, in which cases a duty sufficient to pay the 
cost should be laid upon the navigation facilitated 

On March 12 commissioners accredited by the government 450. The 

of the Confederate States had addressed a note to W. H. Seward, Confederate 

. . Commis- 

secretary of state of the United States, acquamtmg him with sioners to 

the fact of their presence in Washington and of their purpose *^® Umted 

to seek amicable adjustment of all questions growing- out of 

the political separation, and asking him to appoint as early a 

day as possible in order that they might present to the president 



374 RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

of the United States the credentials which they bore and the 
mission with which they were charged. This note had been 
answered indirectly by Mr. Seward in a memorandum, dated 
March 15 (though it was not delivered to the commissioners 
until April 8)/ in which he refused to receive the commissioners 
ofhcially, submitted a copy of Mr. Lincoln's inaugural address 
to the consideration of the Confederate commissioners, and 
styled the Confederacy "not a rightful and accomplished 
revolution and an independent Nation with an established 
Government, but rather a perversion of a temporary and partisan 
excitement to the inconsiderate purpose of an unjustifiable and 
unconstitutional aggression upon the rights and the authority 
vested in the Federal Government." 

SUMMARY 

The decade from 1850 to i860 was the most stormy that had ever con- 
fronted the American nation. Slavery would not down. Every public 
question was viewed through colored spectacles. Pro-slavery men tried 
to favor the interests of their "peculiar" institution by the passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, and the attempt to establish a pro-slavery constitu- 
tion in Kansas. The anti-slavery men took forcible possession of Kansas, 
defeated the pro-slavery constitution, and tried to test the courts of the 
country in the Dred Scott case. The offensive attitude of the North in 
these matters greatly aroused the worst feelings at the South and drew more 
clearly than ever before a line of demarcation between Northern and Southern 
interests. The issues were still more clearly drawn in the Lincoln-Douglas 
debates which also defeated Douglas two years later for the presidential 
nomination of his party, and at the same time secured for Lincoln the Re- 
publican nomination for the presidency in i860. 

In 1859, John Brown, a fanatic, who believed he held a commission from 
God, made his notorious raid in Virginia, aided and abetted all the while by 
radical abolitionists at the North. Sectional fires burned hotter as a result, 
and passed the point of endurance in the presidential election of i860. 
Lincoln was elected, and seven Southern states seceded and formed a new 
union. 

1 The delivery of this memorandum to the commissioners was delayed so long 
because of their willingness to exhaust every means at their disposal before confess- 
ing the failure of their mission. ICvidently they knew the tenor of the memoran- 
dum, but until it was actually sent to them by Mr. Seward, they were not openly 
and ofiBcialiy rejected. See Sec. 454. 



THE CONFEDERATE STATES 



375 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What circumstances led to the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska bill? 
2. Why did the friends of the measure seek to apply to the Nebraska region the 
doctrine of "squatter sovereignty"? 3. Why did the North oppose this measure? 
4. By what former legislation did the friends and opponents respectively of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill justify their positions? 5. What effect did this measure 
have upon the slavery issue? 6. Were pro- and anti-slavery people both to blame 
for the civil war in Kansas? Why? 7. Describe the beginning of the Republican 
party and tell why it should have arisen at this time. S. What was the substance 
of the Dred Scott decision? g. How did it affect the slavery issue? 10. What 
effect did the Lincoln-Douglas debates have upon the political career of each? 
II. What is the chief historical importance of the John Brown raid? 12. What 
was the significance of the election of Abraham Lincoln in i860? 13. What was 
the Ostend Manifesto? 14. If you had been a slave owner in western Missouri 
in 1855, how do you think you would have felt toward the Emigrant Aid Society? 
15. If you had been an anti-slavery citizen of Illinois in 1855, what would you 
have thought of the "Border Ruffians'"? 16. If Henry Clay had been aUve in 
i860, could he have averted armed conflict? Give reasons for your answer. 




The Capitol at Montgomery 



CHAPTER XX 
WAR BETWEEN THE STATES— 1861 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Century Co., Battles and Leaders, vol. i; Pollard, 
The Lost Cause; Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln. 

Sources. — Official Records of the War, vols, i-v; Appleton, Annual Encyclopedia, 
1 861; Stephens, War Between the States; Johnston, Narrative, etc.; Longstreet, 
From Manassas to Appomattox; Davis, Rise and Fall of the Confederate States. 

Illustr^^tive Material. — Churchill, The Crisis. 

WAR POLICY OF LINCOLN 

451. inaug- On March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated 
uration of president of the United States. On March 15, President Lin- 
Captain' coin, in writing, inquired of the secretary of war as follows: 
^°^ "Assuming it to be possible to now provision Fort Sumter, 

under all the circumstances is it wise to attempt it?" In reply, 
the secretary referred to a proposition formerly presented by 
"Mr. Fox," but advised the president that the time had passed 
for the relief of the fort without too great expenditure of men 
and means. There was, however, a council held, at which 
were present the president and his cabinet. General Scott, Com- 
modore Stringham, "Mr. Fox," and General Totten, chief-of- 
engineers. In the deliberations written opinions were read 
from the officers in Fort Sumter, all of whom gave large esti- 
mates of the naval and military force necessary for the attempt. 
On March 19, President Lincoln applied to General Scott for 
a competent person as a messenger to secure accurate informa- 
tion in regard to the command of Major Anderson in Fort 
Sumter; General Scott selected Captain Fox, and the selection 
was approved by the president. Captain Fox at once left 
Washington for Charleston. 

376 



WAR POLICY OF LINCOLN 377 

On March 4, after hearing President Lincoln's inaugural 452. Beau- 
address, Senator Louis T. Wigfall of Texas telegraphed Gov- regard 
ernor Pickens of South Carolina that Mr. Lincoln meant war, Sumter 
and that there was strong ground for believing that reenforce- 
ments would speedily be sent to Fort Sumter. Two days later 
Brigadier-general G. T. Beauregard, of the Confederate States 
army, assumed command of all the troops on duty in and near 
Charleston harbor, and began to organize the forces at his 
disposal into a system for the investment of the fort. Still, 
notwithstanding the warlike preparations on both sides, mer- 
chant vessels from the North as well as from other parts of the 
world, landed or loaded their cargoes at the wharves of Charles- 
ton; the telegraph line was in service between Charleston and 
the Northern cities; railway trains ran as usual or nearly so; 
and the Confederates allowed Major Anderson's command to 
receive fresh meats and vegetables from the Charleston markets 
every forty-eight hours, as well as daily mails from the North. 
Major Anderson's lines of communication with Washington 
were still open, and until April i he was in constant expecta- 
tion of receiving orders to vacate the post. In fact, so impressed 
was he that his government intended only pacific measures, 
that he wrote, on March 29, to General Beauregard "trusting 
that in a few days the position would be more agreeable to 
both of us," and Beauregard replied in the same friendly way, 
concluding with "I am, dear Major, yours very truly." Even 
as late as April 3, Chief-of-engineers Totten addressed a com- 
munication to the secretary of war of the United States, in 
which he argued for the evacuation of Fort Sumter, and closed 
his recommendation with the prophetic utterance, "If we do 
not evacuate Fort Sumter, it will be wrested from us by force." 
Of the two alternatives thus presented, Mr. Lincoln, in the end, 
deliberately chose the latter. 

Pursuant to the order of Mr. Lincoln, Captain G. W. Fox 453. Cap- 
proceeded by rail to Charleston; arriving there on March 21, coionei ' 
he sought Governor Pickens, and, after pledging pacific in- Lamon 
tentions, was granted an interview with Major Anderson. 



378 



WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 



454. The 
commis- 
sioners; 
Judge 
Campbell 



His guaranty and escort to the fort was Captain Hartstene, 
now in the Confederate service, formerly of the United States 
navy. After a confidential interview at night with Major 
Anderson, the messenger left immediately for Washington. 
Captain Fox had not produced upon Major Anderson's mind 
the impression that an attempt would be made forcibly to 
relieve the fort. Again, on March 25, at about 2 o'clock p.m., 
a messenger from the president of the United States arrived in 
Fort Sumter, escorted by Colonel Duryea of Governor Pickens's 
staff. This messenger, Colonel Ward H. Lamon, deepened the 
impression upon the minds of the Confederates and Federals 
alike that the fort was to be speedily evacuated. On the day 
following his departure. General Beauregard wrote to the 
secretary of war at Montgomery: "Mr. Lamon left here last 
night, saying that Major Anderson and command would soon 
be withdrawn from Fort Sumter in a satisfactory manner." 
Still, the war department at Montgomery, advised by friends 
in Washington, suspected that at the last moment Mr. Lincoln 
would decide to use force. 

April 2, the commissioners, still in Washington, telegraphed 
the Confederate secretary of state: "The war wing presses on 
the president; he vibrates to that side. . . Their form of 
notice to us may be that of the coward, who gives it when he 
strikes," and on the same day the Confederate secretary of war 
wrote to General Beauregard: "The Government has at no 
time placed any reliance on assurances by the Government at 
Washington in respect to the evacuation of Fort Sumter." 
He instructed General Beauregard to notify Major Anderson 
that all communication between city and fort was inhibited — 
adding for the general's information that the withdrawal of the 
commissioners from Washington might occur at any moment. 
But still the commissioners remained at their posts; they tele- 
graphed on the third, on the fifth, on the sixth, more and more 
news of warlike preparation. To further their mission, they 
had enlisted the good offices of Justice John A. Campbell, of 
the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Campbell was 



WAR POLICY OF LINCOLN 



379 



an Alabamian and was an acceptable intermediary to Mr. 
Seward, who very early had decided that he could not directly 
grant the commissioners the recognition they desired, and had 
also decided to gain time — the policy of his government not 
having been settled upon. On March 15, Judge Campbell had 
left with Commissioner Crawford a note which read in part: 
"I feel entire confidence that Fort Sumter will be evacuated 
in the ne.xt ten days." Five days later Judge Campbell had 
called on Mr. Seward, bringing a telegram from General 
Beauregard to the effect that Fort Sumter was not evacuated, 




Fort Sumter before the Bombardment 



and that Major Anderson was at work making repairs. The 
next day, March 21, after a conference with Mr. Seward, Judge 
Campbell had written to Commissioner Crawford that "the 
failure to evacuate Sumter was not the result of bad faith but 
was attributable to causes consistent with the intention to 
fulfil the engagement." On March 30, Judge Campbell had 
left with Mr. Seward a telegram from Governor Pickens in- 
quiring concerning Colonel Lamon, whose visit to Charleston 
he (the governor) supposed had a connection with the proposed 
evacuation of Fort Sumter. Judge Campbell was to receive 
Mr. Seward's reply on April i. On the first of April Mr. 
Seward had written Judge Campbell as follows: "I am sat- 



38o 



WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 



isfied the Government will not undertake to supply Fort 
Sumter without giving notice to Governor Pickens." And 
when Judge Campbell, on April 7, saw that warlike prepara- 
tions were being forwarded by the government, and asked in 
writing if the assurance he had given the Confederate authori- 
ties were not well founded, Mr. Seward answered, "Faith as to 
Sumter fully kept; wait and see." 



455. Mr. 
Lincoln's 
notification 



456. Con- 
federates 
seize official 
mails 



BEGINNING OF WAR 

On the eighth of April, Mr. Robert S. Chew, a messenger 
from the department of state at Washington, handed to Gov- 
ernor Pickens and General Beauregard the following note: 
"I am directed by the President of the United States to notify 
you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter 
with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted 
no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made 
without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fort." 

On the same day Major Anderson wrote to the adjutant- 
general at Washington: "A movement made now, when the 
South has been erroneously informed that none such will be 
attempted, would produce most disastrous results throughout 
our country. It is, of course, now too late for me to give any 
advice in reference to the proposed scheme of Captain Fox. I 
fear that its results will be disastrous to all concerned. . . I 
ought to have been informed that this expedition was to come. 
Colonel Lamon's remark convinced me that the idea, merely 
hinted at to me by Captain Fox, would not be carried out. . . 
My heart is not in the war which I see to be thus commenced." 

April 9, the Confederate secretary of war telegraphed Gen- 
eral Beauregard: "Major Anderson's mail must be stopped. 
The fort must be completely isolated." 

The order was obeyed, and the letters from the fort marked 
"official" were sent to the Confederate government. On this 
point Governor Pickens wrote to President Davis as follows: 
"Rumors well established, indicated that Mr. Fox had violated 
his faith to me in visiting the fort, under guaranty of Captain 



BEGINNING OF WAR 



381 



Hartstene, who went with him. The pledge was that he 
visited Major Anderson by authority, for pacific purposes en- 
tirely. You see that the present scheme for supplying the fort 
is Mr. Fox's." 

On the night of April 11, Beauregard demanded the evacua- 457. Bom- 
tion of Fort Sumter, which was refused. At 4:^0 a.m. on the ^^rdment 

' . ^ ^ of Sumter 

twelfth, the Confederate batteries 
opened fire. Sumter was silent 
until 7 o'clock, when she returned 
the fire. After a bombardment 
of thirty-three hours, the bar- 
racks of the fort being in flames, 
Major Anderson surrendered, and 
was allowed to vacate the fort, 
carrying all personal property, 
and saluting the flag. During 
the bombardment, a Federal fleet 
could be distinctly seen standing 
off the bar — an expedition under 
Captain Fox sent by President 
Lincoln for the relief of Sumter. 
The fleet returned to New York, carrying the garrison. 

The war was on. President Lincoln had had his way. 458. The 
Whether he had hesitated, as a ruler well may pause and con- i^^i^^^" 
sider when confronted with some tremendous but delicate 
question of war or peace; whether the result was but the out- 
come of well-wrought policy of his own initiative, he builded 
wiser than he knew. Had he been gifted with prophetic 
vision, he could hardly have arranged for the first act of hos- 
tility to benefit his cause more greatly in case that cause re- 
quired war. Major Anderson at once became a popular hero; 
on landing at New York he was met by an immense multitude; 
his men were seized upon by the crowds and paraded through 
streets upon shoulders proud to bear them; and the bells of the 
city were pealing ardent devotion to the cause of the North. 
The war policy of Mr. Lincoln had triumphed. Anderson was 




•, ."X''?'^ 



Jefferson Davis 



382 



WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 



459. Prep- 
aration for 
war; the 
Baltimore 
riot 



460. The 
South's 
lack of 
arms; Mr. 
Stephens 



461. Se- 
cession of 
four states 



made a major-general, and Fox became assistant secretary of 
the navy. 

Both governments began to prepare for war — but not for 
such a war as followed. On April 15, Mr. Lincoln called for 
75,000 \olunteers for three months; and militia were rapidly 
put in movement toward the capital and toward camps of in- 
struction. The Sixth Massachusetts regiment, on April 19, 
while passing through the streets of Baltimore, changing from 
one railroad to another in order to reach Washington, was 
attacked by a mob and men were killed.^ 

President Davis also called for volunteers; and in answer to 
this call, 360,000 men, according to the secretary of war, offered 
their services. How could they be armed? General McCul- 
loch of Texas wrote that some of his command were using 
single-barrel shot-guns. Neither in the North nor in the South 
was there a general belief that there would be a long war. Mr. 
Davis, in May, sent an agent to England to purchase 10,000 
Enfield rifles. They were brought over in November. 

But for the seizure of munitions in United States forts and 
arsenals, the Confederacy would have been practically un- 
armed and helpless; even with these, and the arms purchased 
in England, her troops were at a disadvantage, increased rap- 
idly and enormously in the last years of the war by the manu- 
facture of the repeating rifle with which the Union regiments 
were being armed. The North had armories, and the South 
none, but the South had cottonfields. Mr. Stephens urged 
upon Congress the strong financial policy of buying Southern 
cotton with Confederate bonds; it could have been bought at 
eight cents, and would have given the Confederacy strong credit 
in England; arms in plenty could have been bought. 

President Lincoln's call for troops to "suppress the com- 
binations" existing in the Confederacy found small welcome 
in the Border states. Virginia seceded on April 17; North 



1 The riot in Baltimore was the occasion that inspired the well known battle 
lyric, "Maryland, My Maryland." Jas. R. Randall, the author, was a Marylander 
residing in Louisiana. 



BEGINNING OF WAR 383 

Carolina seceded on May 20, the eighty-sixth anniversary of 
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (218). On 
May 6 the convention of Arkansas passed an Ordinance of 
Secession, only one delegate voting against it; and on May 6, 
the legislature of Tennessee voted to submit an Ordinance of 
Secession to the people, and on June 8 the people voted for 
secession by more than two-thirds majority. 

The power of the United States, however, had been and still 462. The 
was exerted mainly in efforts to save the states of Maryland, stages held 
Kentucky, and Missouri to the Union, In May the Maryland in the 
legislature refused to pass a secession ordinance; and no con- 
vention was called for such purpose. Many volunteers from 
Maryland, however, served in the Confederate armies. As to 
Kentucky and Missouri, both states endeavored to maintain 
"neutrality"; in the end they were occupied by IJnion forces, 
and the full voice of the people was never spoken. There 
resulted in Missouri a provisional state government, sustained 
by Federal force, opposed to the regularly elected administra- 
tion which was largely for separation. The regular legislature 
made an alliance or convention with the Confederate States, 
and the state was recognized as a member of the Confederacy, 
always, however, under the protest of the opposing faction. 
A very similar condition resulted in Kentucky; Federal force 
was employed to prevent the scales from turning in favor of 
secession. In the midst of a condition of excitement and vio- 
lence in the state, a convention was called to meet at Russell- 
ville, a place not yet occupied by the United States forces. The 
convention met and adopted a Declaration of Independence, 
resorting to revolution rather than secession. Commissioners 
were appointed to efTect an alliance with the Confederate 
States, and Kentucky was admitted in December, 1861. In 
both states, Kentucky and Missouri, civil war existed, and 
continued long. In the Confederate service there were regi- 
ments from these states, but they were few in contrast to those 
in the Federal armies. An example of the discord in the 
Border states is shown in the fact that George B. Crittenden of 



384 



WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 



463. Occu- 
pation of 
Alexandria 



464. West- 
ern 

Virginia; 
McClellan 



Kentucky, son of United States Senator Crittenden, became a 
major-general in the Confederate army, while his brother, 
Thomas L. Crittenden, became a major-general in the Federal 
army. 

FEDERAL ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA 

Richmond had now become the Confederate capital, and 
troops were being assembled there; while Washington was 
rapidly becoming an armed and entrenched camp. Still there 

was no advance on either 
side until May 24, on 
which day a Federal regi- 
ment under command of 
Colonel Ellsworth occu- 
I)ied Alexandria, Virginia, 
capturing a few Confed- 
erate soldiers and some 
munitions of war. In this 
affair Colonel Ellsworth 
lost his life at the hands 
of a citizen. On the same 
day a division of the Fed- 
eral army advanced and took position in Virginia some four 
miles southwestward, covering Washington. 

The people of western Virginia were opposed to secession. 
Before i860, a movement had been begun looking to a separate 
state in the mountains, and now the secession of Virginia gave 
opportunity for the formation of a rival government, the head 
of which was gladly recognized by the Federal authorities in 
Washington as the lawful governor of Virginia. 

About May 25, a few Confederate troops burnt some bridges 
on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and the Federal govern- 
ment ordered General George B. McClellan, commander of the 
Department of the West, with headquarters in Cincinnati, to 
take such measures as were necessary for the protection of the 
railroad, the line of communication between Washington and 




Cai'Hul ax Richmond 



FEDERAL ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA 385 

the West. So McClellan promptly advanced, and after some 
small engagements brought to a very successful termination a 
campaign which had for its final results the creation of the 
state of West Virginia, and its admission into the Union (1863) 
with or without constitutional sanction. 

In June, General Robert Patterson, in command of the 465. Op- 



posing 



in 



Military Department of Pennsylvania, began an advance into forces 
Virginia, and crossed the Potomac July 2. His total force was the Shen- 
about 14,000. Opposed to Patterson, and defending Harper's yaiiey 
Ferry and the valley of the Shenandoah, was General Joseph 
E. Johnston in command of about 10,000 men. There were 
movements to and fro, and skirmishes. Johnston had already 
evacuated Harper's Ferry as indefensible, and taken position near 
Winchester; his force was called the Army of the Shenandoah. 

By the middle of July the army covering Washington, under 466. 
command of General Irvin McDowell, was about 35,000 strong, andBeaure- 
and the newspapers were clamoring for an advance upon Rich- gard; 
mond. The successes of McClellan in western Virginia were 3°^"^ °^ 
cited to show what Union troops could do ; enthusiasm was Patterson 
unbounded and the army must go forward. 

Confronting McDowell within a day's march, the outposts 
of the armies almost in touch, was Beauregard, with about 
20,000 men, headquarters at Manassas Junction, where the 
Manassas Gap railroad started westward toward its terminus 
at Strasburg in the Shenandoah valley, General Joe Johnston's 
field of operations. Beauregard's army was called the Army 
of the Potomac. 

The Federal plan of campaign was excellent; and the Con- 
federate plan for defense was not less so. McDowell could 
overthrow Beauregard unless Beauregard should be greatly 
reenforced, and the plan provided that he should not be reen- 
forced. It was evident to the commanders on both sides that 
with Johnston and Patterson in the Valley hard at work on 
each other, Beauregard must retire before the Federal advance 
or fight at a great disadvantage. As yet, however, the Con- 
federates could not know whether the first attack would fall 



386 WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

upon Beauregard or upon Johnston; so they considered two 
problems, the reenforcing of Johnston by Beauregard, and the 
reenforcing of Beauregard by Johnston. 
467. June- As early as July i. General Scott, commander-in-chief, ad- 
Tohnston vised General Patterson of his hopes to move a column of about 
with 35,000 men early the next week against Manassas; and on 

eauregar j^j^ ^^^ Scott telegraphed Patterson, "If not strong enough 
to beat the enemy next week, make demonstrations so as to 
detain him in the valley of Winchester." Patterson replied 
on the 14th, "To-morrow I advance; if an opportunity offers, 
I shall attack;" but on the i6th he wrote, "The term of service 
of a very large portion of this force will expire in a few days. 
Any active operations against Winchester cannot be thought 
of until they are replaced by three-years men," and on the next 
day, the 17th, wrote, "The term of service of eighteen regi- 
ments expires within seven days, commencing to-morrow," and 
desired to know if he must re-occupy Harper's Ferry or with- 
draw entirely. And on the 17th Scott telegraphed Patterson, 
"Do not let the enemy amuse you and delay you with a small 
force in front whilst he reenforces the Junction with his main 
body. " 

On the night of the 17th Beauregard's outposts were already 
falling back before the general advance of McDowell's army, 
and in the Valley, after midnight of the 17th, Johnston was 
straining every nerve to get away from Patterson's front with-, 
out being followed, and move his whole force to the support of 
Beauregard. So the Army of the Shenandoah marched on the 
i8th toward Manassas Junction; and on the iSth Patterson 
wired Scott, "Shall I attack?" 

General Johnston reached Manassas at noon on the 20th, 
with about half his force, the remainder of his infantry follow- 
ing on trains from Piedmont, to which point the whole army 
had marched on the i8th by passing through Ashby's Gap. 
Johnston, being Beauregard's senior in rank, now had command 
of all the Confederate forces, but deferred largely to Beauregard, 
in whose capacity he had full confidence. Johnston regarded 



FEDERAL ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA 387 

the arrival of the remainder of the Army of the Shenandoah 
during the night as certain, and Patterson's junction with 
McDowell on the 2 2d as probable; so it was determined to 
assume the offensive and attack McDowell before Patterson 
could come to his help. 

Meantime, McDowell had formed an admirable plan of 468. 
battle; he would move a heavy column, under Hunter ^n^d advan^^ 
Heintzelman, in the night by a circuitous road to the west, Evans; 
cross Bull Run at a shallow ford about four miles above the g^^' 
Confederate left, and fall at sunrise upon Beauregard's weak Hampton; 
and exposed flank, then advance rapidly down stream driving vy^iK^^^d 
everything, while Tyler's division upon the north bank opposite 
Stone Bridge should open fire with its artillery at daybreak in 
order to divert the attention of Beauregard from the flanking 
column, and should cross Bull Run when the way was cleared 
and join in the general battle. 

The movement was begun at 2:30 A. on Sunday, July 21, 

but from poor arrangements the roads were blocked with inac- 
tive troops, delaying those ordered forward — so that it was 
past 9 o'clock when the head of the column reached the upper 
ford. Meantime, the division below, opposite Stone Bridge, 
had opened fire — not, however, at daybreak, but a little after 
5 o'clock, and had continued to cannonade the Confederate 
position for an hour. Then skirmishers were thrown out, and 
there was musket firing across the Run. The Confederates 
holding the extreme left were not two full regiments under 
command of General Nathan G. Evans, who soon saw from 
clouds of dust rising on the road by which the Federal column 
was marching, that it was not the intention of the Federals to 
make a \'igorous attack upon him, but that they were moving 
to envelop the whole Confederate left. Therefore, leaving his 
skirmishers to keep up a show in front of Tyler, he marched his 
main force to the left and took position on the road by which 
McDowell's turning column was now rapidly advancing upon 
him. Not yet was either Johnston or Beauregard aware how 
grave was the situation; their flank had been turned and a 



388 WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

thousand men under Evans were to meet the attack of ten 
thousand under McDowell. And Evans's men resisted, many 
dying there before Beauregard or Johnston knew what it was 
all about, and they were not quite overcome when General 
Bee's brigade and Colonel Bartow's brigade double-quicked 
to their help, while the Federals still came on, their long 
column spreading out in line of battle to overlap the audacious 
little force in front of them. And how these few brigades still 
resisted, let Beauregard tell in his own words: "For an hour 
did these stout-hearted men of the blended commands of Bee, 
Evans, and Bartow breast an unintermitting battle-storm, 
animated surely by something more than the ordinary courage 
of brave men under fire. It must have been indeed the inspi- 
ration of the cause and consciousness of the great stake at issue 
which thus nerved and animated one and all to stand unawed 
and unshrinking in such extremity." 

By the time the constantly increasing Federals were begin- 
ning to bear back Evans, Bee, and Bartow, Hampton came to 
their support with his legion, losing heavily as he came. Then, 
as the mingled remnants of these four commands, with what 
was left of Imboden's battery, were falling back to a stronger 
position, Jackson's brigade came up to their help. 

Let Beauregard tell it again, for both Beauregard and John- 
ston were now on the field, and Jackson would never tell it: 
"Every segment of line we succeeded in forming was again 
dissolved while another was being formed; more than two 
thousand men were shouting each some suggestion to his neigh- 
bor, their voices mingling with the noise of the shell bursting 
overhead, and all word of command drowned in the confusion 
and uproar. It was at this moment that General Bee used the 
famous expression, 'Look at Jackson's brigade! It stands 
there like a stone wall ! ' — a name that passed from the brigade 
to its immortal commander. " ^ 

The Confederate troops were now in better position on the 

' General Jackson always disclaimed the personal title "Stonewall," saying it 
belonged to his brigade, and not to him. 



FEDERAL ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA 



389 



Henry house hill, and were being constantly reenforced; but 469. The 

the Federals continued to increase, and to advance. They general 

-' engage- 
had been strengthened by two brigades of the division of Tyler, ment 

which had crossed Bull Run as soon as it became evident that 
the entire force of the flanking column was engaged. And 
then followed a conflict indescribable. There was little general- 
ship — the men fought. But the Federal soldiers of the main 
column had expended too 



X ^- j\^..* 




much of their energy on 
the night march, and they 
wearied of the battle. They 
took positions and they 
lost them; they lost bat- 
teries and they retook them 
to lose again. General Bee 
had been killed; Colonel 
Bartow had been killed; 
and General Jackson had 
been wounded, yet did not 
leave the field. On the 
Federal side, also, the mor- 
tality had been great, and 
it was becoming evident ■ » 

that though McDowell had outgeneraled the Confederates, he 
was not able to win the battle. And at 4 o'clock, the last 
brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah, which had reached the 
Junction at noon, marched upon the battlefield under the lead 
of Kirby Smith, and the day was decided. Kirby Smith fell 
wounded, but his brigade marched on, and the Federals began 
to yield. "At first the men quietly walked oflf. There was no 
special excitement except that arising from the frantic efforts 
of officers to stop men who paid little or no attention to any- 
thing that was said. McDowell and his staff, aided by other 
officers, made a desperate but futile effort to arrest the masses 
and form them into line." The men fell back, constantly be- 
coming more and more disorganized, until a few shells from 



Manassas Battlefield 



390 WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

the Confederates effected a panic, and the routed army fled to 
Washington. 
470. Effect The battle of July 21, called Bull Run by the Federals, 
battle showed the North that a great war had just begun. Previously, 

many persons, even many leaders, had cheerfully entertained 
the opinion that the South would yield to a moderate degree of 
force; they had thought that her "political heresy" had not 
become a faith, but was intermixed with such devotion to the 
fathers as greatly to weaken her power and willingness to resist. 
But every shade of such opinion was swept from the public 
mind by the newspapers of July 22. Three months volunteers 
were a thing of the past. Congress — many members of which 
in carriages and otherwise had merrily followed McDowell's 
advance in order to see the show, and had helplessly increased 
the difi&culties of his retreat — was willing to sustain President 
Lincoln in whatsoe\'er he should demand; for Washington 
itself, the capital of the country, seemed in immediate peril. 

Mr. Lincoln, on July 23, only one day after the defeated 
troops began to fill the streets of Washington, called McClellan 
to take the chief command of all the armies. General Scott, 
a hero of the War of 18 12, was now almost eighty years old; 
he felt incapacitated for the arduous work of his office, and 
retired. General Paftterson was superseded by General Banks. 
A great, almost desperate, activity speedily relieved the sudden 
fears for the capital; and then President Lincoln set about 
preparing for the gigantic task of reducing the Southern Con- 
federacy. » 

Congress had assembled in extra session on July 4. It 
approved all of Mr. Lincoln's acts; it called upon the states 
for 525,000 men, to serve for three years, and appropriated 
$500,000,000 for the carrying on of the war. 

In the Confederacy, however, the battle of Manassas, as it 

was called, went far, though only for a time, to cause undue 

elation, and an unwarranted hope of European recognition. 

The battle had certainly confirmed a de facto government for 

• an indefinite time; while the North might well fear foreign 



FEDERAL ADVANCE INTO VIRGINIA 391 

intervention, the South might as reasonably hope for it; and 
such condition did not, for the moment, add to the energy of 
the Confederate government or of the Southern people. 

SUMMARY 

The hesitation which had marked the conduct of the government ceased 
when Lincoln became president; and it was determined to relieve P'ort 
Sumter by force if necessary. The Confederates, hoping for a peaceful 
separation and for an equitable division of the public property, refrained 
from actual hostility. Two messengers from Washington were allowed to 
enter the fort and confer with its commander. Meanwhile Secretary of 
State Seward had indirectly assured the Confederate commissioners that 
his government would make no attempt to relieve Fort Sumter without 
giving them notice beforehand; and on April 8, notification was given that 
an attempt would be made to relieve the fort. Already a small fleet had left 
New York for Charleston harbor. Beauregard demanded the surrender 
of the fort, and receiving Anderson's refusal bombarded it on April 11 and 
12, when it surrendered. Immediately the war spirit rose high in both North 
and South. Lincoln called for volunteers to carry war into the seceded 
states. Some of the Border states refused to furnish troops for the purpose, 
and Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas seceded and joined 
the Confederacy. Richmond became the Confederate capital, and armies 
of both sections were collected near Washington. A battle occurred at 
Manassas Junction on July 21, 1861, and resulted in a serious defeat for the 
Federals. At once the North understood that a long and difiScult war must 
be fought, and began scientifically to prepare for it; but the South, for the 
moment, was unduly elated, and in a measure rela.xed its energies. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Discuss the ownership of Fort Sumter in November, i860; in January, 1S61; 
in April, 1861. 2. Did the war begin with Lincoln's notification that force would 
be used if necessary in relieving Fort Sumter, or did it begin when the Confederates 
fired on the fort? 3. Could the war have been prevented? On whom rests the 
responsibility for the war? 4. Would Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North 
Carolina have left the Union and fought against it if Lincoln had delayed and tried 
peaceful measures? 5. Why should the people on both sides think the war would 
soon be over? 6. Discuss Kentucky's policy of revolution. 7. By what con- 
stitutional right was West Virginia formed? 8. If West Virginia was in the Union, 
was Virginia out of the Union? q. Discuss the generalship of McDowell in the 
battle of July 21. 10. Whom do you consider the hero of the battle? 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Century Co., Baltics and Leaders, vols, i-iv; Histo- 
ries by Ropes, Fiske, Wilson, Burgess, Gregg, Rhodes, Dodge. 

Sources. — Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Appleton, 
Annual Encyclopedia, 1S61-1864; Davis, Rise and Fall; Stephens, War Between 
the Slates; Johnston, Narrative. 

Illustrative Material. — Semmes, Service Afloat; Solej', Blockade and the 
Cruisers. 

THE BLOCKADE 

471. The The South was very willing to be let alone; so that the war, 

four series ^ ^ continued, must be a war of aggression by the North, 
of offensive ' °° ... 

operations; upon whose military authorities rested the work of plannmg 

1861-1865 ^ system of offensive operations; and gradually there developed 
four lines of attack, namely: 

1. The blockade of all the Southern ports by the navy of 
the United States. 

2. Operations by the combined naval and military forces 
of the United States to control the Mississippi river, so that 
the Confederacy should be cut in two, thereby preventing the 
eastern part of the South from being reenforced or supplied 
with provisions from the region which speedily came to be 
known as the Trans-Mississippi region. 

3. The occupation of Chattanooga, Tennessee, by the 
United States forces, in order that the lines of railroads in the 
Confederacy should be broken, and thus the Confederate armies 
be rendered unable to reenforce one another rapidly, and also 
be unable to receive provisions or munitions of war across the 
gap thus to be created by the capture of Chattanooga. 

4. The taking of Richmond, the capital of the Confeder- 
acy.^ 

' In a purely military view this fourth movement in the general combination 
should hardly be classed with the three others, for the Confederacy must certainly 

392 



THE BLOCKADE 393 

THE BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 

On April 19, 1861, six days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, 472, Lin- 
Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring all seaports within J^°^a!j^^°— 
the boundaries of the seceded states, in a state of blockade. At April 19, 
first, the Confederates derided; the blockade, so called, could ^^^^' 
efifect nothing; no ships of war appeared at the entrances to 
their harbors; the boasted blockade was a mere "paper block- 
ade," and it could not be believed that any earnest effort 
would be made actually to close all the ports along two thousand 
miles of seacoast. But, as soon as it became evident to the 
Federal government that a long and obstinate war was begun, 
it put itself seriously to work in the construction of a navy that 
should accomplish the purpose which the Confederates thought 
impossible. 

At the beginning of the war, the United States navy con- 473. Con- 
sisted of about ninety vessels, but fifty of them had served the°Unhed 
their day, — old sailing vessels unfit for arduous or rapid States navy 
service. Of the forty steamers, half a dozen were unavailable; ^ ^ 
the thirty-four remaining were scattered here and there, some 
at Pensacola, some at New York, others elsewhere. A great 
many of them had been laid up for repairs, and it would take 
time to fit them for sea ; so it may be said that the United States 
navy at the beginning of the war was merely a nucleus. It 
surely could not be considered capable of effecting a serious 
blockade; it would have more than enough to do in protecting 
commerce from the depredations of Confederate privateers. 
And yet the future proved that the privateering ended when 

fall if the first three should be successful; yet there were strong reasons why the 
movement against Richmond occupied so much of the attention of the Federal 
authorities. In the first place there was constant necessity, exaggerated perhaps 
in the mind of Mr. Lincoln, and of Congress, for defending Washington; and an 
army could defend Washington by taking the oflfensive. Again, the defence of 
Richmond must weaken the Confederates greatly all along their other Unes of de- 
fence, from which reenforccments were frequently hurried to the capital; thus the 
defence of the Mississippi and of Chattanooga were rendered more difficult. Fur- 
thermore, all danger of foreign intervention would end with the fall of the Confed- 
erate capital. 



394 THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

the blockade had been made effective, there being no induce- 
ment to officers and crews to continue the dangerous business 
when they could no longer bring their j)rizes into port and sell 
them. 

Before the close of the war the United States had probably 
in her service five hundred sea-going vessels; there had been 
nearly sixty ironclads built, while in the Mississippi river alone 
the flotilla of gunboats which began the descent of that stream 
in January, 1862, numbered about one hundred vessels, a great 
many of them ironclads. 
474. The At the beginning of the war the Confederacy, of course, was 

^°°^®^55^'® without a single ship. A few side-wheel river and harbor 
States Navy o i 

— i86i steamers were purchased, or leased, or seized, in Charleston 
harbor before the bombardment of Fort Sumter; and in other 
harbors, wherever a seizure could be made of a United States 
vessel regardless of condition, the opportunity was improved. 
But the only fleet of any importance was at New Orleans. 
When Louisiana seceded all possible seizures of United States 
vessels were made, and to these were added by purchase some 
few little steamboats. As the war progressed, the Confeder- 
acy made effort to create a navy, or at least a semblance of 
one. At first Letters of Marque had been issued to persons 
wishing authority to prey upon the United States commerce at 
sea. In those days, such conduct in war was not uncommon. 
But with the establishment of an effective blockade the calling 
of the privateers was gone. There was no shipyard of any con- 
siderable worth within the bounds of the Confederacy, and 
what work was done to create a navy at home was accomplished 
under very serious difficulties. The Confederate authorities, 
however, were enabled to negotiate with ship-builders in Eng- 
land for four first-class cruisers, which created very great havoc 
among American merchant vessels, and gave rise, after the war, 
to complaint on the part of the United States government 
against Great Britain for allowing the vessels to leave her 
ports, and this complaint resulted in an arbitration, in which 
the board decided that Great Britain should pay the United 



THE BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 395 

States a heavy indemnity. Besides the English-built cruisers, 
the Confederacy negotiated for six others to be built in France, 
but the vessels were never permitted to leave the French 
shipyards.^ 

It is thus easily seen that the Confederate government, in the 475. For- 
lack of a navy, very early abandoned hope of raising the block- nj^on^'oped 
ade by physical force. But the South had reason to hope that for and 
Great Britain would soon recognize the Confederacy as an in- -^^^ ' j 
dependent nation, and perhaps intervene in order to protect Slidell 
her own manufacturers, 

daily becoming more and ■^^^t'^^::^^^ML 

more embarrassed by x^^^^^^^^^S^^Cll 

mUls. It was a foregone ~^ "" ~^'' "" 

, . ,1 . ^1 /^ The Cruiser "Alabama" 

conclusion that the Con- 

, 1 ^ , , 1 From a drawine; which Captain Semmes 

federates would endeavor , 

pronounced correct 

to obtain European recog- 
nition, and that the Federals would endeavor to prevent it. 
On November 7, 186 1, two commissioners from the Confed- 
erate States, James M. Mason, for Great Britain, and John 
Slidell, for France, took passage at Havana for England, and 
on the next day, the British ship Trent, on which they were 
passengers, was arrested by a United States warship, and the 
commissioners were seized. Great excitement resulted in the 
North and in the South and in England. A United States ves- 
sel had attacked a neutral ship, and if her government should 
sustain the act. Great Britain must necessarily become involved 
in the war; but the United States government delivered up the 

' The most famous of the English-buih Confederate cruisers was the Alabama 
(or 290 as she was at first called), commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes. She 
sunk the ¥. S. steamer Ilatteras, i6 miles south of Galveston on January i, 1S63. 
After cruising in almost every sea and capturing scores of United States vessels, 
she was sunk by the "chain-armored" United States cruiser Kearsarge in battle near 
the French coast, June ig, 1864. 



396 THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

commissioners to Great Britain and war with that power was 
averted. The Confederate government hoped long for recogni- 
tion from France and Great Britain, both of which powers had 
early recognized the belligerent rights of the South in proc- 
lamations of neutrality. No foreign goverrmient, however, 
throughout the war, gave to the South the longed-for recogni- 
tion of her independence as a nation. 
476. The Closely related to the failure of the Confederates to secure 

quest[on- foreign recognition, was the institution of slavery which the 
some public South upheld. The United States government, through diplo- 
expressions j^^^^^--^, measures and otherwise, continually held before the 
English people and their government the fact, or alleged fact, 
that a recognition of the South meant a recognition of slavery. 
There is no doubt that this influence prevented Great Britain 
from recognizing the South as an independent nation. But 
the fears of the Federal government were long kept alive in this 
respect, and its influence abroad was greatly lowered by the 
fact that Mr. Lincoln, in his inaugural address, had made the 
solemn statement: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, 
to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where 
it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so; and I 
have no inclination to do so." 

Furthermore, the Congress of the United States, in July, 
1 86 1, passed the resolution of which the following is part: "That 
this war is not prosecuted on our part in any spirit of oppression, 
nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor for the pur- 
pose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established 
institutions of those States; but to defend and maintain the 
supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance 
thereof, and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality, 
and rights of the several States unimpaired; that as soon as 
these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease." 

This resolution, offered in the Senate by Andrew Johnson 
of Tennessee had passed that branch of Congress on July ir 
by a vote of 30 to 5; and on July 22, the day following the 
defeat of McDowell, it passed the House by a vote of 117 to 2. 



THE BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 397 

These majorities in the national legislature in favor of letting 

slavery alone, could not evoke British sympathy with the 

objects of the war. 

On May 24, 1861, General B. F. Butler, in command of the 477. A 

Union forces at and near Fort Monroe, reported to General ™^'*^''y 

' ^ _ view of 

Scott that, when some fugitive slaves who had come into his slavery; 

lines were demanded of him, he replied that the fugitive slave g IJ^"^ 

act did not affect a foreign country, which Virginia claimed to 

be, and that she must reckon it one of the infelicities of her 

position that in so far at least she was taken at her word; that 

in Maryland, a loyal state, fugitives from service had been 

returned, and that even now, if their master would come to the 

fort and take the oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the 

United States, the men would be delivered up to him. Both 

General Scott and the secretary of war gave written approval 

of Butler's report. 

On March 6, 1862, President Lincoln, in a message to Con- 478. Grad- 

gress recommended a proposal to compensate any slave state "^!. ^^^^'^^' 
° , ir 1 1 J pation pro- 

which would "adopt gradual abolition of slavery," and adds, posed by 
"Such a proposition on the part of the General Government ^'""^"^^ 
sets up no claim of a right by the Federal authorities to interfere 
with slavery within State limits," and, in continuation, fore- 
shadows the possible emancipation of the slaves as a measure 
forced by the necessity to preserve the Union. 

On May 9, 1862, General David Hunter, commanding the 479. Hun- 
Department of the South, issued his General Order No. 11, in tfr's eman- 

, ... cipation 

which, after reciting that martial law had been declared in order — 

Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, he adds: "Slavery and ^^^' 
martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible. The rebuked; 
persons in these States — Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina i'''i"^ol°'s 
— heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free. " 
But on May 19, President Lincoln issued a proclamation in 
which he disavows all responsibility for Hunter's emancipa- 
tion order, and says, "it is altogether void," and further says 
that he reserves to himself the decision whether at any time "it 
shall have become a necessity indispensable to the maintenance 



398 



THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 



480. The 
president's 
appeal to 
the Border 
states 




Abraham Lincoln 



of the government to examine" the supposed power to declare 
the slaves free. Then he quotes his message to Congress of 
March 6, and adds that both branches of Congress had adopted 

a resolution looking to the 
gradual abolishment of 
slavery with compensa- 
tion, and concludes with 
a very earnest appeal to 
the states and people most 
interested, as follows: 
"This proposal makes 
common cause for a com- 
mon object, casting no re- 
proaches upon any. It 
acts not the Pharisee. The 
change it contemplates 
would come gently as the 
dews of Heaven, not rend- 
ing or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much 
good has not been done by one effort in all past time, as in the 
Providence of God, it is now your high privilege to do. May the 
vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it. " 

Following this appeal, Mr. Lincoln called together the repre- 
sentatives and senators from the Border states. They met 
on the morning of July 12 at the Executive Mansion, and the 
president "addressed them from a written paper held in his 
hands." He told them very seriously that if they had all 
voted for the resolution for gradual emancipation, in his opinion 
"the war would now be substantially ended." He argued that 
the seceded states would always hope for the help of the border 
states as long as the latter held to slavery; but that an abandon- 
ment of that institution would at once disabuse them. "How 
much better," he said, "for you and for your people to take 
the step which at once shortens the war, and secures substantial 
compensation for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any 
other event. I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a 



THE BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 399 

decision at once to emancipate gradually. Room in South 
America for colonization can be obtained cheaply, and in 
abundance, and when numbers shall be large enough to be 
company and encouragement for one another, the freed people 
will not be so reluctant to go." Concluding, Mr. Lincoln 
referred to great pressure upon him, and begged the members 
to consider his appeal, and discuss it among themselves. 

Within two days he received from the majority of his audience 481. Reply 
a well prepared reply, in which the following expression occurs: ^ *^^ 
"The right to hold slaves is a right appertaining to all the states 
States in the Union. They have the right to cherish or abolish 
the institution, as they or their interests may prompt, and no 
one is authorized to ciuestion the right, or limit its enjoyment. 
And no one has more clearly affirmed that right than you have. " 
They say, furthermore: "Twelve months ago both Houses of 
Congress, adopting the spirit of your message, then but recently 
sent in, declared with singular unanimity the objects of the 
war, and the country instantly bounded to your side to assist 
you in carrying it on. If the spirit of that resolution had been 
adhered to, we are confident that we should before now have 
seen the end of the deplorable conflict. But what have we 
seen? In both Houses of Congress we have heard doctrines 
subversive of the principles of the Constitution . . . Confine 
yourself to your constitutional authority; confine your sub- 
ordinates within the same limits; conduct this war solely for. 
the purpose of restoring the Constitution to its legitimate 
authority." They add that if this advice is followed they will 
very gladly sustain him; and say they are willing that their 
states should consider for themselves the matter of compen- 
satory emancipation. The document was signed by twenty of 
the twenty-eight members concerned. 

Whether as a sequel to the action of the majority of the 482. Mes- 

Border states representatives, or whether Mr. Lincoln had !f^® °^^ 

. . / , December 

worked to a similar conclusion through his own thought or i, 1862 
other influences, the fact remains that in his message to the 
ne.\t session of Congress, December i, 1862, he proposed an 



400 THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

amendment to the Constitution, part of which reads as follows: 
"Every State wherein slavery now exists which shall abolish 
the same therein at any time or times before January i, igoo, 
shall receive compensation from the United States." It is to 
be observed that this proposal would leave the question to be 
solved by the individual states, and is entirely consistent with 
Mr. Lincoln's statement in his inaugural address. It is also to 
be observed that he had already declared that on January i, 
1863, he would issue his proclamation of emancipation, as a 
military necessity. 
483. The Meanwhile, "the seven governors," the churches, the soci- 
do*n Droda- ^^^^^> ^^^ politicians, and especially the military conditions, 
mation were exerting great .pressure upon Mr. Lincoln to induce him to 
declare the slaves free; but he persisted in refusing until to 
him it should seem "an indispensable necessity for the pres- 
ervation of the government," and the time came soon. For, 
after his proclamation of May ig, not six weeks passed before 
his greatest army was defeated and the campaign utterly lost; 
and cjuickly followed worse disaster to another army which 
sought refuge in the defences of Washington, while the Southern 
army invaded Maryland, and fears for the capital were great. 
Why should not a foreign nation recognize the independence of 
a de facto government which could so demonstrate its military 
power? Mr. Lincoln, within less than a month, proclaimed 
that the slaves should be free on the first of January following. 
The "military necessity" had come. The story goes, and it 
is not known that it ever has been disputed, that President 
Lincoln, at a time when he felt greatly discouraged on account 
of successive defeats, made a vow to Heaven that he would 
declare emancipation as soon as victory returned to the Union 
army. The battle of Antietam occurred, and the Confederates 
on September ig retired into Virginia; on September 22, the 
proclamation was issued. In this connection, the action of 
France is interesting. On October 30, 1862, possibly three 
weeks after hearing of Antietam and the ])rocla mation, the 
French government prepared a diplomatic note in which it 



THE BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS 401 

invited Great Britain and Russia to join with her in endeavor- 
ing to bring about an armistice of six months duration between 
the contending powers in America, in the hope that in this 
interval measures would be initiated that would result in peace. 

ff^ fr^U:ZZy /Tut**^/^ JiA,s.r,^ jt:^ c<r»^i*-.c.-«x3'y«.^ 

Extract prom Lincoln's Emancipation Pkoclamation 
Reduced facsimile of the autograph copy 

Both powers replied sympathetically, but thought the govern- 
ment of the United States would resent any semblance of in- 
terference. That Great Britain would have replied differently, 
but for Mr. Lincoln's proclamation, is an interesting possibility. 
The Proclamation of Emancipation proper, issued, according to 
the president's promise, on January i, 1863, declared that all 




402 THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

persons should be forever free, who were then held as slaves 
within the territory of the seceded states, excepting West Vir- 
ginia, and the counties (which were named) occupied by the 
United States military or naval forces. This act, Mr. Lincoln 
wrote, was "warranted by the Constitution upon military 
necessity," and there is no doubt that the most pressing neces- 
sity was the prevention of Great Britain's taking part with the 
Confederacy; all danger of which ceased with the proclamation. 

484. The By June 8, iS6i, the port of Mobile was blockaded by a 
^i!" V* if °^ United States war vessel ; another was stationed at the mouth 

the Ouli ' 

ports of the Mississippi river, in order to blockade the port of New 

Orleans, and on July 2, Galveston, on the coast of Texas, was 
blockaded, the only collision occurring at Galveston, where a 
few shells accidentally landed in the town during an exchange 
of compliments between the. blockading ship and a battery on 
shore, four casualties resulting. By the middle of the summer 
the important Gulf ports were in a state of effective blockade; 
moreover, while these ports were guarded by ships stationed 
before them, other vessels of the Gulf blockading squadron 
plied back and forth along the coast, looking into the smaller 
harbors, in order to prevent the egress or the entrance of vessels. 

THE BLOCKADE OF ATLANTIC PORTS 

485. Hat- A combined naval and military force sailed from Hampton 

teras Island; Roads on August 26, 1 86 1, for Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, 

Roanoke , . 

Island; under command of Commodore Strmgham and General B. F. 

New Berne j^utler. On the morning of the 28th, the two Confederate 
works called Forts Clark and Hatteras, situated on Hatteras 
Island, were bombarded. The ships with their heavy guns 
stood out to sea, and the shells from the Confederate guns 
fell short. On the next day the forts surrendered, and the 
Union forces took possession. 

In February, 1862, General Burnside and Flag-officer Golds- 
borough took Roanoke island after very severe fighting on the 
part of both arms of the service, and in March followed up this 



THE BLOCKADE OF ATLANTIC PORTS 403 

success by capturing New Berne and Fort Macon on the main- 
land of North Carolina. 

On October 29, 1S61, seventeen vessels of war, accompanied 486. Port 
by many transports carrying three brigades of infantry under ^°y" 
General Thomas W. Sherman, sailed from Hampton Roads, 
Virginia, and, after encountering a terrific gale off Cape Hatteras, 
in which four of the transports were sunk, and other vessels 
seriously damaged, the fleet appeared at Port Royal on Novem- 
ber 3. The harbor was defended by fortifications on shore, 
and by three small steamers. 

On November 7, Flag-officer Dupont opened fire upon the 
forts, and after a bombardment of four hours silenced them and 
took possession, the garrisons withdrawing. Port Royal re- 
mained in the hands of the Federals throughout the war, giving 
a foothold which helped the blockading fleets to guard the 
whole coast as far as Florida with a minimum of effort. 

On November 29, 186 1, General Thomas W. Sherman, in 487. Fort 
command at Port Royal, ordered an examination of the water P^^^*" 
approaches to Savannah, and particularly to Fort Pulaski, 
commanding the entrance of the Savannah river, in respect to 
the possibility of its reduction. The report received was encour- 
aging, and a force was landed upon Tybee island, and slow ap- 
proaches made at night almost under the guns of Fort Pulaski, 
until the Confederates, to their surprise, found a battery erected 
against them. Meantime, some Confederate gunboats came 
down the river and opened fire on the battery for a short time, 
and then steamed away. The work was kept up, and another 
battery was planted farther up the river on Bird island; and 
then another at Venus Point, on Jones island, these two bat- 
teries being above Fort Pulaski, as the river runs, thus making 
communication with the city extremely dangerous and almost 
impossible. On the morning of April 10, the fort was summoned 
to surrender, and Colonel Olmstead, in command of the Con- 
federates, replied that "he was there to defend the fort, not to 
surrender it." A vigorous bombardment was begun early the 
ne.xt morning, and at two o'clock the fort was compelled to 



404 THE STRATEGY OF THE WAR 

surrender. Fernandina had been occupied pre\iously by Union 

forces. 

488. The Thus, in less than a year after President Lincoln's proclama- 

biockade ^jqj^ qj^ paper, the Federals held positions on the mainland of 
effective .'■'■' _ ^ _ 

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; 

and the Confederacy was beginning to sufifer for many foreign 
commodities that are classed as necessities rather than luxuries, 
while a diligently enforced blockade of the whole coast rendered 
highly dangerous the exportation of cotton, upon which almost 
exclusively the South depended to pay for imports. Although 
the blockade was not yet complete, and although it would have 
been a physical impossibility so to shut up every small inlet 
as absolutely to prevent the slipping in of small, swift blockade 
runners from Nassau, yet the barriers in their way made the 
adventure extremely hazardous. Prices of many articles con- 
sidered necessities rose enormously. Quinine in sufficient 
quantity could not be had; and the medicine chest of a military 
surgeon became little more than a capacious receptacle for empty 
phials and boxes. In the interior, the people resorted to the 
physic of primitive times; the medicinal plants formerly 
pointed out by the Indians were hunted for and utilized; the 
dogwood, the wild-cherry, and the willow, among the trees, 
and among the herbs, the hoarhound, the bloodroot, and the 
chamomile reasserted a long lost prestige and fortified the 
drooping faith of many a poor patient. 

Salt rose to prodigious prices. It became customary to dig 
up the earth of the smoke-houses in order to extract the salt 
by boiling. Needles were as valuable as jewels; as for pins, 
thorns sufficed in many a sudden necessity. There was coffee 
still in Arabia, perhaps, or in Rio or Honduras; but there was 
none in the South. The farmer raised sorghum, attended more 
than ever to bees, and got along without much sugar. There 
was tea made from the root of the sassafras; coffee made from 
parched rye, or parched potatoes, or a dozen other substitutes 
according to the demands of a fastidious taste; the goosequill 
pen again; the rawhide shoes that slipped off when wet and 



THE BLOCKADE OF ATLANTIC PORTS 405 

tore the flesh when dry and hard; the rude nails of the common 
blacksmith; on long sleepers the thin straps serving for iron 
rails; the homespun, dyed with indigo or copperas or not dyed 
at all; in a thousand and one ways the Southern people felt 
the deprivations caused by the blockade. Toward the end of 
the war the restriction became more and more exacting, until 
Wilmington was closed in January, 1865, in consequence of 
the fall of Fort Fisher. 

But there was an increasing commerce carried on with Mexico 
across the Texas border. Much cotton went to Brownsville, 
thence to Matamoras. Farther up the Rio Grande the over- 
land trade kept up, in smaller degree, however, until the end. 

SUMMARY 

The aggressive policy of Northern generalship took form in four series 
of operations: (i) the blockade; (2) the closing of the Mississippi river 
to the Confederates; (3) the taking of Chattanooga; (4) the taking of 
Richmond. The blockade soon made itself felt, even though it was never 
absolutely thorough. The Confederates had no navy with which to resist 
it; blockade runners, however, slipped through, but supplies thus brought 
in were inadequate and very costly. There was growing distress in the 
South from lack of a few necessary commodities, such as medicines. Hop- 
ing for recognition by European nations the Confederacy sent commis- 
sioners to Great Britain and France. The commissioners, on board the 
British mail steamer Trent, were arrested at sea by a United States war 
vessel, but war with Great Britain was averted by a prompt release of the 
prisoners. Closely related to the question of recognition was the institu- 
tion of slavery. Great Britain especially was suffering for Southern cotton; 
her mills were closing, her operatives out of work; and the South had good 
reason to hope; but slavery stood in the way. Mr. Lincoln, knowing the 
condition, issued a proclamation announcing that he would free the slaves 
in the territory in arms against the United States, predicating his action 
upon military necessity. The proclamation dispelled great danger to the 
Union of a recognition of the Confederacy. Mr. Lincoln, meantime, was 
endeavoring to induce Congress to provide for gradual emancipation with 
compensation to the slave owners; but the border states which held at the 
same time to Union and to slavery, gave the policy but little encourage- 
ment. The blockade became more and more effective; but until the close 
of the war Te.xas carried on trade across the Mexican border. 



4o6 THE STRATEGY OF THE W.\R 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Discuss the eSect on the Confederacy of cutting it in two along the line of 
the Mississippi river. 2. What campaign in the Revolutionary War was under- 
taken by the British with a somewhat similar purpose? 3. Give the reasons for 
the release of Mason and Slidell. 4. Discuss the influence of the lack of cotton 
upon conditions in England. 5. Explain how slavery was closely related to recog- 
nition. 6. Why should Union effort be directed against Chattanooga? 7. Could 
the Confederates purchase and fit out vessels for war in England without the know- 
ledge of the British government? 8. What right had Lincoln to liberate other 
people's slaves? Discuss his right to act contrary to his inaugural announcement 
in regard to slavery. 9. As a matter of expediency, should the Border states 
have been willing to see their slaves freed in accordance with Lincoln's plan? 
10. Did the Southern states violate the Constitution in seceding? 11. Did the 
North violate the Constitution in endeavoring to coerce the South? 12. Of what 
good is a Constitution? 




Confederate Battle 
Flag 



CHAPTER XXII 
STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Century Co., Battles and Leaders, vols, i-iv; His- 
tories, by Ropes, Fiske, Wilson, Burgess, Gregg, Rhodes, Dodge. 

Sources. — Official Records of the War, etc.; Appleton, Annual Encyclopedia, 
1S62-1864; Hood, Advance and Retreat; Grant, Memoirs; Davis, Rise and Fall; 
Johnston, Narrative; Taylor, Destruction and Reconstruction. 

Illustrative Material. — Cable, The Cavalier. 

OPERATIONS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI 

In war, as in other human enterprises, and as in the play of 489. The 
physical forces, progress is made along the "lines of least re- |P^**"J 
sistance." The blockade, clasping the Confederacy on her approach 
weakest flanks, and never relinquishing its embrace, must 
eventually cause exhaustion. But the South must be so en- 
gaged in resisting other assaults as to forbid her making prep- 
arations to break the chain that bound her coasts. 

Geographical conditions, as well as Federal superiority on the 
water, clearly indicated the Mississippi river as the broadest 
avenue of approach into the heart of the Confederacy; and a 
fleet of gunboats, designed for the great stream and its navi- 
gable tributaries, was assembled at Cairo under command of 
Flag-ofiicer Foote. 

General Halleck was at St. Louis in command of the Depart- 490. The 

ment of the Missouri, and General Buell was at Louisville, f^°Hf,^ °/ 
' ' the West, 

commanding the Department of the Ohio, while opposing the 1862; Bel- 
forces of the two commanders were the Confederates under ™°°** ^'^ 

Spring 

General Albert Sidney Johnston, able perhaps to cope with 
Buell or Halleck, but certainly not with both. The Confederate 

407 



4o8 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 



491. New 

Mexico 

campaign 



492. Forts 
Henry and 
Donelson j 
taken 




left rested on the Mississippi at Columbus, Kentucky, while 
its right was near Bowling Green. 

Late in the year 1861, there had been two disconnected move- 
ments; General Grant had advanced against the forces of 

General Polk near Columbus, 
and on November 7, at Bel- 
mont, Missouri, opposite Colum- 
bus, there was a hard fought 
battle, in which neither side 
could gain great advantage. 
While the troops fought on land, 
the Federal gunboats bombarded 
the Confederate batteries with 
little effect. 

Early in January, General Mc. 
Clellan (470) had authorized 
Buell to throw forward a column 
from his left into Tennessee, 
and General Thomas, command- 
ing this advance movement, encountered a Confederate force 
under General Zollicoffer at Mill Spring, Kentucky, on Janu- 
ary ig. In the engagement that followed General Zollicoffer 
was killed, and the Confederates were defeated. 

A small Southern army entered New Mexico in December; 
General Sibley issued a proclamation inviting the people to 
join the Confederacy; combats, in which the Confederates 
gained advantage, took place with the Federal forces under 
General Canby; but Sibley withdrew from the territory in 
May, abandoning an enterprise that should never have been 
begun, although the ultimate object of the movement was Cali- 
fornia and its acquisition by the Confederacy. 

An advance of the army under Grant, and the fleet under 
Foote, on February i, had for its first purpose the capture of 
Fort Henry on the Tennessee river. Fort Henry fell after a 
protracted bombardment of the gunboats, surrendering to Foote 
before the infantry could cooperate. Fort Donelson, on the 



George H. Thomas 



CONTROL OF THE MISSISSIPPI 



409 




Corinth; 
Battle of 
Shiloh, 
April 6-7, 
1862 



Cumberland river, only twelve miles from Fort Henry, was 
defended by some twelve thousand troops, under Generals 
Floyd and Buckner. Against this position General Halleck 
ordered Foote to ascend the Cumberland, while Grant should 
attack the position upon the land side with twenty-five thou- 
sand men. There followed some very stubborn fighting and 
terrible hardship to the infantry in ice and snow. The result of 
four days' battle was the surrender of the Confederate fort and 
Confederate army to General Grant on February 16. 

The center of their line having thus been pierced at a great 493. Con- 
loss to the Confederates, General Johnston was forced to fall federates 

1 retreat to 

back on both right and left. The 

first of the defences on the Missis- 
sippi now became untenable; Co- 
lumbus was evacuated on March 3, 
and General Polk saved his corps 
by falling back and preserving com- 
munication with the center of John- 
ston's army. Nashville was aban- 
doned, and was soon occupied by 
the army under General Buell, while 
Grant's forces from Fort Donelson 
began to ascend the Tennessee river 
in transports, and almost the whole 
of west Tennessee and middle Ten- 
nessee was in the power of the Federals. General Johnston 
concentrated his troops at Corinth to defend the railroad be- 
tween Memphis and Chattanooga, while Grant's army landed on 
the west bank of the Tennessee and waited for Buell to effect 
a junction by marching overland. But Johnston moved with 
some forty thousand troops from Corinth to attack Grant 
before the Army of the Ohio under Buell could join him. The 
first day's battle, on Sunday, April 6, found the Federals unpre- 
pared, and they were forced back until the greater part of the 
Army of the Tennessee, disorganized after severe losses, had 
sought protection from the gunboats on the Tennessee river. 



Albert Sidney Johnston 



4IO STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 

The battle had lasted from daybreak until sunset, and at four 
o'clock it had seemed improbable that the army could escape a 
crushing disaster. But at four o'clock two events occurred: 
One was the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston, who was 
struck down in the high tide of success. The other was the 
arrival of a division of fresh troops under Buell to reenforce the 
discomfited Army of the Tennessee. General Beauregard, sec- 
ond in command of the Confederate Army, considered it unwise, 
after the death of General Johnston, to attack again. The 
armies on that night lay upon the field, while the remaining 
divisions of Buell came up. On the next morning all the Union 
forces under Grant and Buell took the advance, and after a 
stubborn contest, the outnumbered Confederates retreated to 
Corinth. 

494. Island Almost opposite New Madrid, Missouri, the Confederates had 
°' ^° erected strong batteries, both on the eastern bank and on 

Island Number Ten; and on the island was an infantry force 
that should have been withdrawn as soon as the loss of Fort 
Donelson was known. Flag-officer Foote, cooperating with 
General Pope, bombarded the Confederate works for two days, 
and on April 7, Island Number Ten surrendered with some 
4000 or 5000 men. 

495. The A naval expedition under Captain, afterward Admiral, Far- 
Orleans ^* f'^^ut, early in April, had been assembled at Ship island for the 

jiurpose of capturing the city of New Orleans. Seventy-five miles 
below New Orleans were the Confederate Forts Jackson and 
St. Philip, almost opposite each other, with an armament of 126 
guns. From Fort Jackson there stretched a line of obstruc- 
tions in the river, which proved to be of little difficulty; and a 
Confederate fleet carrying 166 guns was above the forts. Farra- 
gut's fleet carried 302 guns, and there could be no question of 
his ability to dispose of the Confederate ships if he could first 
silence the forts. So Farragut's mortar boats lay around the 
bend, and in five days threw more than 16,000 shells into the 
forts; and while the bombardment was at its worst the chain 
of obstructions was cut. On the night following the twenty- 



THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGNS 



411 



496. Elk 
Horn, or 
Pea Ridge 



third of April, Farragut's fleet passed the forts; and the next 
morning almost completely destroyed the Confederate navy. 
New Orleans was now at the mercy of the Federals, who held it 
until the war was over. The loss to the South was enormous. 
No longer could her troops or 
supplies be transported from 
one side of the Mississippi to 
the other in this lower course 
of the river. 

Meantime, there had been 
serious fighting in Missouri and 
Arkansas, which had resulted 
in the abandonment of Mis- 
souri to the Federals, and on 
March 7 and 8 at Elk Horn, 
or Pea Ridge, in northwestern 
Arkansas, a general engagement 
had occurred. On the first day, 
the battle was favorable to the 
Confederates, but their generals, McCulloch and Mcintosh had 
been killed; on the second day, neither side could claim a vic- 
tory, although tactically the Federals won success. 

It was President Lincoln's policy to restore the authority of 497. An- 

the United States governntent as rapidly as possible in the '^'^f^ 

states occupied by the army, so as early as March 5, the Sen- military ' 

ate confirmed his appointment of Senator Andrew Johnson as g°^''"°'' 

. *" of Tennes- 

military governor of Tennessee, with the rank of brigadier see, March, 

general of volunteers (476). Johnson arrived in Nashville on ^^^^ 

March 12, and immediately began his difficult work of lessening 

Confederate resistance and increasing Union sentiment. 




David G. Farragut 



THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGNS 



Early in June the Federals were masters of Memphis and 498. Both 

Fort Pillow, the Confederates having been forced to evacuate ^''^^^ ^^" 

enforced 

through the advance of the army under Grant, and now there 



412 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 



499. Chick 

asaw 

Bluffs; 

Grant's 

movement 




remained no other Southern stronghold on the Mississippi ex- 
cept Vicksburg and Port Hudson. But Vicksburg was very 
strong; it was the last hope of the South to maintain a crossing 
of the river; for Port Hudson must necessarily fall with Vicks- 
burg. Already, before the evacuation of Memphis, the Con- 
federates under General Price, 
in Arkansas, had crossed to the 
east and had reached Corinth. 
Troops from New Orleans, from 
Pensacola, and the Atlantic sea- 
board, had been rapidly added 
to Beauregard's army; while 
Halleck had in person taken 
command of the United States 
forces which, with additions re- 
ceived, now numbered 110,000 
men. 

In December, General W. T. 

Sherman landed his troops on 

the Yazoo in rear of Vicksburg, 

and brought on a great and useless slaughter of his men by 

forcing them to assault an impregnable position, at Chickasaw 

Bluffs, defended by General Stephen D. Lee. 

In January, 1863, General Graift's army was at Milliken's 
Bend, on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi river, a few 
miles above Vicksburg. His army at this time was perhaps 
50,000 strong; and before the campaign ended was increased to 
70,000 men. It having become evident, through experience, 
that Vicksburg could hardly be taken in any other way,^ he 
marched 70 miles down the river. Meanwhile a large part of 
the fleet with transports, on two different nights, April 16 and 
22, successfully ran by the Vicksburg batteries, and were ready 
to transport Grant's army to the east side of the river. 

1 Grant's report, after telling of the failures attending previous movements, says, 
"All this may have been providential in driving us ultimately to a line of operations 
which has proved ultimately successful." 



Ulysses S. Grant 



THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGNS 



413 



Engagements followed with detached Confederate troops; on 500. 
May 14, Jackson was taken; on May 16, at Champion's Hill, ^''^'^t's ^ 
between Jackson and Vicksburg, the Confederate General Pern- Fall of 
berton was defeated and forced to withdraw to the west and Vicksburg 
take position behind the Big Black, and on the next day he was 
forced to retire into Vicksburg. Grant assaulted on the nine- 
teenth, and was repulsed with immense relative loss. Again, on 




Map of the Vicksburg Campaigns 



the twenty-second, he threw away the lives of many men in a 
general assault upon Pemberton's intrenchments. Then he 
began a siege that was intended to reduce the place by prevent- 
ing the entrance of supplies or reenforcements. Meantime, 
General J. E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Depart- 
ment of Tennessee and Mississippi, was endeavoring to collect 
an army strong enough to attack the Federals and compel 
them to raise the siege. He had arrived in Jackson on May 13, 



414 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 



501. Effect 
of Vicks- 
burg on the 
South 



502. Mar- 
tial law in 
Louisiana; 
confisca- 
tion; 
Butler 
superseded 



and had unavailingly endeavored to secure the cooperation of 
Pemberton. Learning of the retreat into Vicksburg, Johnston 
now placed his small force in the best position for helping Pem- 
berton to withdraw his army before it became too late; but 
every attempt he made proved ineffectual. 

The army in Vicksburg, after enduring the perils and priva- 
tions of a close siege of 47 days, was surrendered (July 4, 1863) 
upon terms, the Confederate troops giving paroles not to serve 
against the United States until exchanged. Port Hudson, after 
learning that Vicksburg had fallen, surrendered on July 8 to 
General Banks. It could hardly have held out another day. 

The loss of Vicksburg and Port Hudson convinced many 
thoughtful men in the far South of the futility of further resist- 
ance. If the Confederacy had been unable to defend the Mis- 
sissippi, certainly she was powerless to recover it; and it would 
be well, they thought, to make the best terms possible with the 
North and stop the bloodshed and destruction. The people, 
moreover, or those who were unaware of the general condition 
of the South, murmured very discouragingly because of known 
dissensions among high authorities: Johnston and Pemberton 
had been discordant; between Johnston and President Davis 
there lacked harmony, to put it mildly, and no good could come 
to the country under such conditions. The soldiers had their 
complaints also; incompetent commanders, or false strategy 
directed or rather tangled by those above them, had sent them 
to fields which they had no chance to win. 

General Butler, in command of the Federal forces holding 
New Orleans, established rigid military rule, with mixed effect 
of evil and good. The mayor was confined in Fort Jackson 
for remonstrating in regard to a certain order of Butler's, but 
was released upon offering an apology. Another incident of 
Butler's rule was the hanging of a citizen for pulling down and 
tearing to pieces a United States flag. Butler also became 
involved in a controversy in regard to an immense sum of 
money in the hands of the consul of the Netherlands. The 
property of prominent secessionists was confiscated; all the 



THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGNS 415 

inhabitants of the city were disarmed, notwithstanding re- 
monstrances from the French consul; negroes were received 
into the service of the United States as soldiers; and on Sep- 
tember 24, Butler created a panic by ordering "all Americans, 
male and female, in his department, to renew their allegiance 
to the United States government under pain of fine and im- 
prisonment at hard labor." It is estimated that 60,000 persons 
in Louisiana complied with this order. It was followed by the 
wholesale sequestration of "all the property in the district 
called La Fourche, on the west side of the Mississippi, and all 
in that part of the state lying east of the Mississippi, except the 
parishes of Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines," a territory 
as great as that of Massachusetts. In all these property affairs, 
Butler asserted that he was making "the rich aristocrats, who 
had brought on the war," sustain the poor, who were the 
principal sufferers. No doubt Butler effected good through 
sanitary measures in the city, where he acquired a degree of 
popularity; but in the rural districts he was intensely and 
almost universally hated. President Lincoln superseded But- 
ler with General Banks, a more lenient master, who assumed 
command December 16, 1862. 

A force was at once sent up the Mississippi; Baton Rouge 503. Banks' 
was occupied and was held until the end of the war. campaigns; 

President Lincoln, pursuing his policy of endeavoring to Rouge; 
reattach the seceded states to the Union, had sent with Banks Galveston; 
to New Orleans, General A. J. Hamilton, appointed military Pass 
governor of Texas, November 14, 1862; and General Banks, 
upon arriving at New Orleans, dispatched a force under Colonel 
Burrell to occupy Galveston. In his orders to Burrell, General 
Banks says, " General Hamilton is appointed military governor 
of the state of Texas, and will be recognized by you in that 
capacity." In obedience to orders. Colonel Burrell landed at 
Galveston December 25, 1862; and on January i, 1863, he and 
his men were killed or captured by the Confederates under 
General Magruder. The United States steamer Harriet Lane 
was also taken, together with four smaller vessels. 



4i6 STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 

Following this attempt, General Banks sent an expedition 
against Sabine Pass in September, with the design of capturing 
the forts, landing a large infantry force, and marching upon 
Houston, which would become the capital of Hamilton's govern- 
ment. Low water prevented most of the fleet from getting 
over the bar, but on September 8, two of the gunboats began 
an attack on Fort Griffin, which was occupied by Lieutenant 
R. W. Dowling, with 47 artillerists, and in less than an hour 
both vessels had surrendered with some 350 men. In October, 
Banks himself, with the Thirteenth Army Corps, appeared with 
a fleet at the mouth of the Rio Grande; and within a few days 
the force landed at Brownsville and took possession of the 
town. General Banks, leaving General Dana in command, 
returned to New Orleans, and sent Military Governor Hamilton 
to Brownsville; but beyond giving annoyance to the Confeder- 
ate trade established with Mexico, the troops and the "go^'erno^" 
accomplished nothing. 
504. The The attempted invasion of Texas by way of Red river in 

^ ^y^^ 1864 seems also to have been ordered by President Lincoln 
campaign ^ -' 

for the purpose of facilitating Hamilton's efforts to convert 
Secession Texas into Union Texas. Banks began the movement 
late, being detained in New Orleans to obey Lincoln's instruc- 
tions for placing a "governor" over Louisiana. The advance 
of the Federal army came to a sudden end on April 8 at 
Sabine Cross Roads, where General Richard Taylor drove it 
from the field; and Banks gave up the campaign, although the 
pursuing Confederates were repulsed at Pleasant Hill. After 
this, neither Federals nor Confederates, west of the Mississippi, 
crossed that river in force. 



THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGNS 

505. General Halleck, in command of all the Union army south of 

Evacuation ^|^g Tennessee river, advanced slowly toward Corinth, to which 
of Corinth 

place General Beauregard had retreated after the battle of 

Shiloh; and within a few miles of the Confederate position 



THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGNS 



417 



began to fortify in order to make assurance doubly sure. At 
length, when he was ready to attack, he found that under the 
skilful command of Beauregard, the Confederate army had 
retreated to Tupelo, Mississippi. Here Beauregard was super- 
seded by General Bragg, who soon began a movement into 
Tennessee for the purpose of defending Chattanooga. 

Halleck ordered a movement upon Chattanooga by General 506. Hal- 
Buell. General Pope was ordered by the president to take ^^'^^' 
command of an army being collected in Virginia, and early in Pope;' 
July Lincoln appointed General Halleck commander-in-chief Rosecrans 




Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1864 



of the armies of the United States to supersede McClellan. The 
Federal army remaining at Corinth was now under Grant. 
Its left wing, under General Rosecrans, who had succeeded 
Pope, was still at Corinth, confronted by General Price at 
Tupelo with about 15,000 men, soon to be reenforced by 
VanDorn with 10,000. 

Price moved upon luka, and near that place on September 19 507. luka 
a battle was fought between some of Price's army and a division ^°^. 
of Rosecrans's, but without decisive result. On the 3d and 4th 
of October, Price and VanDorn advanced against the strong 
fortifications of the Federals at Corinth. The result of many 
desperate assaults was the loss of almost 5,000 men on the 
part of the Confederates, and almost 3,000 on the part of 
the Federals. After this battle Rosecrans was ordered into 



4i8 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 



508. 

Bragg's 

Kentucky 

campaign 



609. Mor- 
gan; 
Forrest 



Tennessee, and Grant began to prepare for his Vicksburg 
campaigns (499). 

Bragg moved his infantry by rail to Chattanooga from 
Tupelo by way of Mobile and Montgomery. Buell, finding 
that Bragg would outstrip him and occupy Chattanooga, inter- 
posed his army between that position and Nashville. Mean- 
while, General Kirby Smith had advanced from Knoxville into 
Kentucky with a force of 12,000 men, defeated a Federal 
force on August 30, at Richmond, Kentucky, and was ad- 
vancing upon Louisville, which seemed almost sure to fall 
into his hands; but to defend Louisville, Buell was making 
forced marches, and Bragg was also hurr^'ing forward to effect 
a junction with Smith. Buell occupied Louisville, received 
strong reenforcements, and marched to meet Bragg before 
Kirby Smith had united with that general, and at Perryvillc, 
on October 8, the two armies met in a general engagement. 
The result was indecisive, but at night Bragg abandoned the 
field to the superior numbers against him, and maneuvered until 
Smith joined him, when he withdrew entirely from the state 
and took position in defence of Chattanooga. The campaign 
of the Confederates had failed to increase Southern sentiment 
in Kentucky; a second purpose in the campaign, however, 
had been accomplished in the obtaining of a large quantity of 
supplies. 

While Bragg and Buell had been campaigning in Kentucky, 
a great part of Tennessee had been left open to sudden enter- 
prises on the part of Southern cavalry leaders, and Nashville 
itself was endangered. The whole country of middle and west 
Tennessee became debatable ground. McMinnville, Columbia, 
Williamsport, Brownsville, Gallatin, Pulaski, Murfreesboro, 
Franklin, Clarkesville, Edgefield, Woodbury, Covington, Ran- 
dolph, and other places suffered the terrors of sudden surprises, 
skirmishes and isolation. Morgan captured a whole brigade 
very near Nashville. Forrest rode the country both east and 
west, sometimes attacking steamboats on the Mississippi river, 
at others suddenly appearing east of Nashville. Meanwhile, 



THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGNS 419 

smaller bodies of cavalry, claiming of course to be Confeder- 
ates, but unable in many cases to show commissions, were 
ranging the country and committing depredations. All these 
movements and exploits had the effect of intensifying sentiment. 
The Unionists became more devoted to their cause, while the 
Confederate citizens received encouragement to believe that 
success would crown the efforts of the Southern armies. 

The authorities at Washington removed Buell and ' put 510. Battle 

Rosecrans in his stead. Buell had failed to crush Bragg, while °^ ^"''" 

00 ) freesboro 

Rosecrans had succeeded at Corinth. Rosecrans waited at 
Nashville for reenforcements, and then, in December, advanced 
toward Chattanooga. Bragg in the meantime had gone into 
winter quarters at Murfreesboro, and near that town on Decem- 
ber 31, the advance of Rosecrans's army found Bragg in position 
for battle. A great engagement followed; the troops fought 
all day on December 31; rested on the ist of January, and 
resumed the work of slaughtering one another on the 2d; and 
when the night came, neither army had been able to overcome 
the other. Bragg withdrew to a point nearer Chattanooga, 
and both he and Rosecrans were inactive for the remainder of 
the winter. 

In June, 1863, Rosecrans was ready to advance again. He 611. Battle 
had been heavily reenforced, while Bragg's army had been Chicka- 
reduced in order to strengthen Johnston near Vicksburg. Bragg 
retreated slowly upon Chattanooga, Rosecrans day after day 
extending his lines so that Bragg was forced to retire. Even 
after Bragg occupied the city and its immediate surroundings, 
Rosecrans, with his much more numerous army, was able to 
detach a large force to operate upon the railroad south of 
Chattanooga; so that in order to prevent his line of communi- 
cation with the South from being broken, Bragg was com- 
pelled to evacuate Chattanooga. Rosecrans occupied the city 
on September g, a>nd on September 19 and 20 was forced to 
fight the battle of Chickamauga. Meantime, Bragg had been 
reenforced from Mississippi, and from Virginia by two of the 
divisions of Longstreet's famous corps. Chickamauga was the 



420 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: WEST 



greatest battle fought by the western armies; it resulted in 
disaster for the Federals: marvelous work was done by General 
Thomas to save the army from destruction. Bragg shut Rose- 
crans's army in Chattanooga, where its position became very 

..^^_,_ ^^_^ _^ perilous because of 

8^ ^^^--^r^ -^ - '^ ^~ \*^?^^?:5rf^^ the difficulty of ob- 
^" taining supplies. But 

■£ ' - = the Federal govern- 

ment made extra- 
ordinary efforts for 
Rosecrans's relief; 
troops were hurried 
from the North and 
from the West, and 
long wagon trains 
endeavored to bring 
supplies into Chat- 
tanooga from Nash- 
ville; Grant himself 
came from Vicks- 
burg to take com- 
mand. Burnside, in 
command of the 
Federal army at 
Knoxville, was 
ready to march to 
the relief of Chattanooga, and Bragg felt compelled to detach 
Longstreet in opposition. Grant, learning that Bragg's army 
had been reduced, ordered an attack, and late in November, 
Bragg's line of intrenchment on Missionary Ridge and his 
position on Lookout Mountain were carried. Bragg raised the 
siege of Chattanooga, and retired into Georgia. Longstreet, 
in the meantime, had laid siege to Knoxville, but feeling un- 
able to devote the winter to the operation, determined to 
assault, and was repulsed with very great loss. 




lH«i„>' 






Point of Lookout Mountain, Tenn. 
View during high water, looking down the river 



THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGNS 421 

SUMMARY 

Grant and Foote captured Forts Henry and Donelson and advanced 
southward. General A. S. Johnston attacked Grant at Shiloh, but the 
timely arrival of Buell turned the tide of victory in favor of Buell and 
Grant. General Pope took Island No. 10 in the Mississippi river. Farra- 
gut, after a most dramatic action below New Orleans, received the sur- 
render of the city on April 29, 1862. Meanwhile, Lincoln had appointed 
Andrew Johnson military governor of Tennessee, thereby putting into 
effect his first large movement toward a generous "reconstruction." In 
Northwest Arkansas a battle had been decided against the Confederates 
March 7 and 8, 1862. The campaigns against Vicksburg began. Sherman 
needlessly caused his men to be slaughtered at Chickasaw Bluffs. Grant 
marched down the Mississippi on the west side, far below Vicksburg, crossed 
to the east side, and won engagements at Jackson, Champion's Hill, and 
Big Black river. J. E. Johnston maneuvered for the purpose of aiding 
Pemberton to avoid being shut up in Vicksburg; but his movements failed, 
and Grant besieged the city, which was surrendered on July 4, 1863. The 
taking of Vicksburg and Port Hudson divided the territory of the Con- 
federacy, and rendered almost hopeless the cause of the South. Butler, 
commanding in New Orleans, ruled rigorously, confiscating property, receiv- 
ing negroes into the United States army, and ordering all citizens to take 
the oath of allegiance. Butler was succeeded by Banks, who was defeated 
by General Taylor in his Red River campaign. 

Price and Van Dorn attacked Rosecrans at Corinth behind intrench- 
ments, and were repulsed. Bragg invaded Kentucky without great result; 
fought a drawn battle at Murfreesboro, gained a great victory at Chicka- 
mauga (September 19-20, 1863) and besieged Rosecrans in Chattanooga. 
Grant took command at Chattanooga, reenforced the army, defeated Bragg 
at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and the Confederates retired 
into Georgia. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What effect upon the Confederates in Virginia would spring from the loss 
of the Mississippi? 2. Discuss the following proposition: The death of General 
Johnston at Shiloh affected the future history of the South. 3. Why did it so 
happen that many battles in the Civil War began in favor of the Confederates and 
ended in Federal successes? 4. Discuss the effect of the Vicksburg surrender. 

5. Was Butler right in confiscating property in order to provide for the poor? 

6. Why should Banks wish to invade Texas? 7. What were the two purposes in 
Bragg's advance into Kentucky? 8. Which side, if either, could afford to fight a 
drawn battle, as Murfreesboro? 9. Explain how "extending lines" to outflank 
an army has an effect. 10. What effect should the permanent occupation of 
Chattanooga have on the war? 



CHAPTER XXIII 
STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Century Co., Battles and Leaders, vols, i-iv; Ham- 
lin, Chancellorsville; Dabncy, Stonewall Jackson; Long, Memoirs of Robert E. Lee; 
Swinton, Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. 

Sources. — Official Records; Humphrey, Virginia Campaign; McClellan, 
Campaigns of Stuart's Cavalry; Stephens, War Between the States; Grant, Memoirs; 
Walker, History of the Second Army Corps. 

Illustrative Material. — Johnston, The Long Roll; J. Esten Cooke, Hammer 
and Rapier; Surry of Eagle's X est; Scott, Partisan Life with Mosby; Avury, A Vir- 
ginia Girl in the Civil War. 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 
General George B. McClellan, commander-in-chief of the 



512. 

Cam^'ai'^n'^ Union armies, had spent the winter and early spring, 1S61-62, 

1862; the 

"Virginia" 

and the 

"Monitor" 



in organizmg an immense army 
near Washington. This general 
was a highly accomplished mili- 
tary engineer who thoroughly 
understood the advantage of 
even a small fortification to an 
army acting upon the defensive. 
He considered it unworthy in a 
general to throw away the lives 
of his men needlessly; he con- 
sidered every point of attack 
and every line of retreat; and 
believed that he had no right to 
engage in battle unless he had a 
fair prospect of advantage. In- 
stead of advancing upon Richmond by the way of Manassas, 
where Joe Johnston's army was intrenched, he transferred his 

422 




George 13. McClellan 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 



423 



troops by water to the peninsula formed by the James and the 
York rivers, took position before Yorktown, and began a siege 
of the Confederate fortifications defended at the time by Gen- 
eral John B. Magruder. Meanwhile, General Johnston at 
Manassas, learning of McClellan's movement, was retreating 
toward Richmond in order to reenforce Magruder, for which 
purpose McClellan gave him sufficient time. The siege of 
Yorktown lasted from April 8 until May 4, McClellan choosing 
a slow and safe process, and refusing to sacrifice his men in a 
bloody assault. The Confederates retreated up the peninsula, 
and at Williamsburg, Johnston now in command, gave battle 
in order to save their wagon trains. The result, according to 
McClellan, was a great victory; according to Johnston likewise 
it was a victory, but for the Confederates. Johnston saved his 
wagon trains and retired upon Richmond. 

In a rneasure, McClellan's slow movements may have been 
determined by an ironclad Confederate vessel^ which was 
capable of blocking the 
passage of the whole 
Union fleet into the James 
jriver. On the 8th of 
March, the Virginia had 
come out into Hampton 
Roads and had attacked 
and destroyed two Fed- 
eral frigates and retired 
without being injured. On 

the next day she came out again to complete her work of destruc- 
tion, but was met by a Federal vessel, named the Monitor, and 
a royal battle followed between the two, in which the Monitor 
was enabled to stand off in water too shallow for the Virginia, 
which consequently returned to her moorings. Neither vessel 
was seriously damaged, although they fought at close range 
for more than six hours. The Virginia came out again on 

1 The old U.S. frigate Mcrrimac, which had been greatly altered and 
named the Virginia. 




The "Monitor" and the "Virginia' 



424 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



April II, in full view of part of McClellan's army, but did noth- 
ing except to aid smaller craft in effecting the capture of a few 
merchant vessels near shore. The Virginia was burned on 
May II, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Federals. 
513. Seven McClellan continued slowly to advance until he was within 

Pines and ^ £g^^ miles of Richmond. Here he halted and fortified, with 

Fair Oaks, 

May- June part of his army on either side of the Chickahominy river. 



CH ESAPEAKE 




Map of Hampton Roads, Virginia 



On the 30th of May, General Johnston prepared to attack 
McClellan's left wing, and on the 31st, the Chickahominy rose 
in consequence of heavy rains. McClellan's left was then with- 
out support because his right wing could not be brought across 
the river. The attack on May 31 was made at Seven Pines and 
Fair Oaks Station, and both sides lost very heavily. The day 
ended with the success of the Confederates; by the next morn- 
ing, however, the Federals were enabled to repair their bridges 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 



425 




and bring over to the help of the distressed left wing reenforce- 
ments from the right. The battle was renewed and resulted 
in restoring the Federal lines. 
In this battle General Johnston 
was severely wounded, and Gen- 
eral Robert E. Lee, who had for 
some time been serving as Presi- 
dent Davis's military adviser, was 
appointed to the command of the 
forces, which became known as the 
Army of Northern Virginia. Gen- 
eral McClellan, overestimating al- 
ways the numbers of the Confed- 
erates, asked for reenforcements, 
and General McDowell, who had 
advanced as far as Fredericks- 
burg, was ordered to join him. 

On May i, Stonewall Jackson was in the Shenandoah valley 514. Jack- 
with about 14,000 men. Advancing toward him were Fremont I'l'^nan- 
from the west, and Banks from the north, while McDowell was doah 
between the Blue Ridge and Fredericksburg, all with a total <^^™P^'sn 
force of perhaps 75,000 men. Suddenly, Jackson moved east 
through the Blue Ridge Gaps, but quickly turned again, and 
rapidly marched westward upon Fremont. On May 8, Jackson 
encountered the advance divisions of Fremont and overcame 
them. Then he turned again and marched down the valley 
to meet Banks's army, part of which he found at Front Royal 
and defeated. Banks at Strasburg immediately learned of the 
disaster to his division, and retreated in all haste down the 
valley, but while his army was in motion his flank was struck 
by Jackson, and his whole army driven to Winchester, and even 
beyond, for at Winchester, Ewell attacked him again and his 
force did not halt until it had crossed the Potomac. But by 
this time Fremont was in Jackson's rear. 

On June 8, at Cross Keys, Jackson turned and delivered battle 
to Fremont, and was again successful. Meantime, an army 



Stonewall" Jackson 



426 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



515. Jack- 
son with 
Lee, June 



516. The 

seven days 
battles, 
June July 




J. E. B. Stuart 



under Shields had advanced upon him from the east; and on 
the night of the battle at Cross Keys, Jackson marched to 

meet Shields. The battle of Port 
Republic followed on June g, and 
Shields was badly defeated. 

The wonderful success of Jack- 
son's campaign in the valley had 
caused great fear in Washington 
for the city, and President Lin- 
coln countermanded the order for 
McDowell to reenforce McClel- 
"'" Ian, and commanded him instead 
to defend Washington against 
Jackson. On June 17, Jackson 
moved toward Richmond, and on 
June 25 arrived within a day's 
march of Lee's left flank. Li the 
meantime, General Lee, having determined to attack McClel- 
lan, had ordered General Stuart, commanding the Confederate 
cavalry, to obtain information of the position of the Federals. 
Pursuant to this order General Stuart, with 1200 cavalry, had 
ridden entirely around McClellan's army from the west to the 
east and back into Richmond with the loss of but one man. 

On June 26, General Lee threw forward Longstreet and the 
two Hills to the north of the Chickahominy and unsuccessfully 
attacked McClellan's right flank at Mechanicsville. In the 
night the Federals retreated down the Chickahominy and took 
up a strong position at Gaines's Mill, where, on the next day, 
the united forces of Lee and Jackson overcame the Federals 
under Fitz John Porter, after desperate fighting for many hours 
and the loss of thousands in killed and wounded. Porter was 
enabled by the falling of the night to withdraw his shattered 
forces to the south of the Chickahominy. McClellan decided 
to retreat to the protection of his gunboats on James river. 
He abandoned his base of supplies at White House on York 
river, and though terribly pressed all the way, succeeded in 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 



427 



saving his army. Great battles were fought during the retreat, 
and in the last battle, at Malvern Hill, on July i, the Con- 
federates, attacking an almost impregnable position, were 




Position of the Army of the Potomac at Harrison's Landing, Va., 186: 



repulsed with great loss. The next day, however, found Mc- 
Clellan's army crowded together at Harrison's Landing on the 
James river under protection of the Federal fleet. 

General John Pope, whom President Lincoln had placed in 517. Battle 
command of the army being formed for the protection of Wash- ?t ^^^/^q 
ington (506), was between Culpeper and Manassas; and Mc- 
Clellan's army was being transferred by water to Alexandria. 
Lee, learning that the danger was now from the north rather 
than from the east, sent Jackson's corps to meet Pope's advance, 
and soon followed with the remainder of his army. Jackson 
met Pope at Cedar Mountain on August 9, and after a contest 
which lasted until night, Pope withdrew. 

General Pope's army lay behind the Rappahannock. Lee ond Battle of 
ordered Jackson to march around its right flank, and get in Manassas, 
its rear at Manassas. Following Jackson with an interval of 28-30 



428 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 




Map of Campaigns in Virginia 

a day's march, came Longstreet's corps. Jackson took Bristoe 
Station and Manassas Junction on the night of August 26, and 
now his whole corps was on the railroad directly between Pope 
and Washington city. On August 29, Pope's army attacked 
Jackson, but could not dislodge him, and on the next day Lee's 
whole army attacked Pope's on the old battleground of Bull 
Run and drove it from the field with immense losses. 
519. Lee in While Pope's shattered army was reorganizing at Washington, 
Sharpsbur'g Lee crossed the Potomac at White's Ford on September 4, and 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 



429 



occupied Frederick. Meanwhile, McClellan's army was arriv- orAntietam, 
ing at Alexandria; in fact, its division under Fitz John Porter ^^ 
had reached Pope in time to take part in the battle of Manassas. 
Immediately preceding that battle President Lincoln had re- 
moved McClellan from the command of the army, but now, 
pressed by misfortune, he yielded to the popular clamor and 
placed McClellan at the head 
of the united armies. McClel- 
lan, very proficient as an or- 
ganizer, soon restored confi- 
dence, and advanced slowly 
upon Lee, completing his or- 
ganization as he moved. On 
September 9, Lee detached 
Jackson's corps for operations 
on the south side of the 
Potomac against Harper's 
Ferry, held by 11,000 Union 
troops. Harper's Ferry, with 
all its garrison, was sur- 
rendered to Jackson on Sep- 
tember 15. Meanwhile, Lee's 
remaining forces in Maryland, 

less than 30,000 men, were slowly retiring before McClellan, 
and on the night of September 16, the two armies confronted 
each other on the opposite sides of Antietam creek. On the 
17th, McClellan's army of about 70,000 men advanced upon 
Lee at Sharpsburg, and the bloodiest single day of the whole 
war resulted in some 30,000 killed and wounded. Part of 
Jackson's corps had reached Lee before the battle, and part of 
it had made a forced march of seventeen miles from Harper's 
Ferry while the battle was raging. All night and the next 
day, Lee remained in position, but McClellan did not advance, 
and on September 19, Lee retired to the Virginia side of the 
Potomac. The Federals claimed a victory, and it was now 
that President Lincoln issued his preliminary proclamation in 




Robert E. Lee 



430 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



520. The 
Burnside 
campaign; 
Fredericks- 
burg, De- 
cember 13 



521. Battle 
of Chancel- 
lorsville, 
May, 1863 



regard to the slaves in the territory still in arms against 
the United States (483). 

Lee's army encamped around Bunker Hill in the valley of 
Virginia, and McClellan's army remained in Maryland until 
November. While the armies were in these positions, General 
Stuart again rode entirely around McClellan's army, fording 
the Potomac twice in doing so, and escaped without serious 
losses. President Lincoln was greatly displeased because of 
McClellan's continued inactivity; and McClellan at last ad- 
vanced on the east side of the Blue Ridge, forcing Lee to retreat 
uj) the valley in order to place his army between JMcClellan 
and Richmond. Late in November, President Lincoln removed 
McClellan, and appointed General A. E. Burnside instead. 
Burnside at once marched upon Fredericksburg, intending to 
cross the Rappahannock immediately and move against Rich- 
mond by the direct road; but when he was ready to cross he 
found Lee in front of him. Burnside crossed, however, on 
December lo-ii, and on the 13th made a series of desperate 
attacks upon Lee's almost impregnable position. He was de- 
feated with terrible loss, and retired to the north side of the 
river. In this battle, as well as in others, General George G. 
Meade distinguished himself. 

Both armies now went into winter quarters, making huts of 
pine logs and clay, and roofed with tent cloths. Very likely 
the Confederate army was in no better situation to endure the 
winter than Washington's had been at Valley Forge. Lee's 
army had been reduced to 55,000 men in consequence of 
detaching Longstreet to operate against Suffolk, when General 
Hooker, who had superseded Burnside, advanced by the right 
flank up the Rappahannock, crossed it, and took position at 
Chancellorsville, ten miles distant upon Lee's left. Lee accepted 
the challenge of an army more than twice as great as his own, 
and within three days, May 2-4, had defeated it and sent it 
back across the Rappahannock. Here, however, Lee lost 
Stonewall Jackson, his most valued lieutenant. 

The middle of June, 1863, found Lee's army marching down 



OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 



431 



July, 1863 



the Shenandoah valley. Ewell defeated Milroy at Winchester 622. Get- 
on June 14 and 15, and crossed the Potomac. At Gettysburg, ^^^^^^^^^^ 
Pennsylvania, on July 1-3, the Confederates under Lee fought 
a great battle with the Federals under General George G. 
Meade, who had superseded Hooker only four days previously. 
The first day went against the Federals; the second day was a 
slaughter in which nothing was determined; on July 3, Lee 
attacked Cemetery Hill. At one o'clock more than a hundred 
Confederate guns opened upon Meade's center; the Federals 
replied with eighty cannon; for two hours the artillery combat 
raged; then there was silence, and 15,000 veteran infantry, 




Gettysburg National Military Park 

under Pickett and Pettigrew and Trimble, marched against the 
\eteran divisions of Hancock's corps aided by staunch support 
to right and left, all easily discernible across the open space of 
almost a mile. The Confederate troops came down Seminary 
Ridge in long line of battle, and into the open, their arms 
glittering in the three o'clock sunlight, their ranks orderly, 
saving their strength for the charge that was yet to be made. 
Batteries played upon them from front, from left oblique, and 
from right oblique; but they marched on at quick-step with 
the shells bursting overhead and in their ranks. They reached 
the depression and marched on; the climbing of three fences 
that obstructed their march caused loss of time and temporary 
disorganization under the murderous fire that was breaking 
them to pieces; but they passed the fences and began to march 



432 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



623. Lee at 
Hagers- 
town, 
July 



624. Bris- 
toe; 
Mine Run 



up Cemetery Hill. Then they came under infantry fire, with 
the batteries always at work upon them. Three hundred yards 
of open ground must yet be crossed, and at the other side, 
behind the stone walls Hancock's corps was firing as fast as 
cannon and musket could be loaded. What' was left of the 
line charged, and melted away before it reached the Federals. 
A few lived through the terrible fire and fell at the foot of the 
wall; fewer still mounted the wall and never returned. 

Lee could no longer continue the struggle; artillery ammu- 
nition was lacking. He remained in line, facing Meade, until 
the night of July 4, when he began his retreat into Virginia. 
At Hagerstown, Maryland, he again confronted Meade from 
the 7th to the 13th of July before he crossed the Potomac into 
Virginia. The failure of Meade to attack Lee caused President 
Lincoln great disappointment; but it afterward became clear 
that General Meade was right in refusing to risk a battle at 
Hagerstown. 

Meade followed Lee into Virginia, and the armies faced each 
other across the Rapidan until October 10, when Lee suddenly 
threw A. P. Hill's corps ahead of the advancing army far up 
the river with orders to gain Meade's rear by the road on which 
Jackson had marched around Pope in the preceding year. 
But Meade learned of the movement in time to fall back to 
Centre ville. On his retreat, Warren, commanding the rear 
guard at Bristpe, was attacked by A. P. Hill, and fought a 
successful combat. Lee gave up the pursuit, and again retired 
behind the Rapidan. Late in November Meade advanced 
by his left, crossed at Germanna Ford, and took position for 
battle at Mine Run, where Lee confronted him until December 
I, when Meade withdrew to the north bank without bringing 
on a general engagement. 



COMBINED OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 
625. Grant Early in March, 1864, President Lincoln ordered General 
er^™*"**" Grant to Washington, and appointed him commander-in-chief 
chief, 1864 of all the armies, with the rank of lieutenant-general. Grant 



COMBINED OPERATIONS AGAINST RICHMOND 433 

immediately gave Sherman the command of the Federal army 
in the West, and arranged for a simultaneous movement in 
four directions upon Richmond. The Army of the Potomac, 
under the immediate command of General Meade, was to make 
a direct advance through northern Virginia; the Army of the 
James, under Butler, at Fort Monroe, was to advance up the 
James river, on the south side, against Petersburg and Rich- 
mond. An army under Sigel was to move up the Shenandoah 
valley and destroy the Virginia and Tennessee railroad in order 
to prevent supplies from reaching Richmond and Lee's army, 
and then move against the capital. Meanwhile, General 
Sherman should cooperate with Grant by moving from Chatta- 
nooga upon Atlanta, defended by Johnston, who had super- 
seded Bragg. ^ All these movements were to begin at the same 
time in order to prevent any inactive Confederate army from 
sending reenforcements to points of danger. 

Pursuant to Grant's orders, Butler advanced up the James 526. But- 
river, landed his troops on the south bank, and began to ^^^ ^. ' 
march on Petersburg. He was met, however, by General Sigei's 
Beauregard, with forces which had been hastily collected from ^l^^^^' 
the Carolinas, and was repulsed with considerable loss. Beaure- 
gard then intrenched from the James to the Appomattox in 
front of Butler, so that the Union general was upon a peninsula, 
the neck of which was occupied by the Confederates behind 
fortifications. The soldiers said Butler was "bottled up." 
As for Sigel, that commander advanced up the Shenandoah 
valley, encountered a force of Confederates under Breckin- 
ridge at New Market, was worsted, and was compelled to 
retreat down the Valley. He was succeeded by General Hunter, 
who accomplished the destruction of the railroad. 

Almost simultaneously with the movements of Sigel and 527. Ad- 
Butler, General Meade's army, with which General Grant kept ^he Army 

his headquarters, advanced by the left flank, crossed the Rap- of the 

Potomac, 
' From Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. — " L"ee, with the capital of the Con- May 
federacy, was the main end to which all were working. Johnston, with Atlanta, 
was an important obstacle in the way of our accomplishing the result aimed at, 
and was therefore almost an independent objective." 



434 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



628. Grant 
before 
Petersburg, 
June 



idan at Germanna Ford, and took position at Chancellorsville 
on the night of May 4. General Lee's army fell upon Grant 
and Meade in the Wilderness on the two succeeding days, and 
paralyzed all effort of the Federals to maneuver. The two days 
battle had been favorable to the Confederates, but Grant 
ordered Meade on May 8 to continue the movement by the 
left flank toward Richmond. At Spottsylvania Courthouse 
they found Lee in front, and from the loth to the 21st of May 
a series of terrible battles took place, in which both sides lost 



k * 




Pontoon Bridge ox the James River 
From the North side; 68 boats 

heavily. Meantime the cavalry of the two armies had fought 
at Yellow Tavern. Stuart fell, and Hampton succeeded him. 

Again the Army of the Potomac moved by its left flank, 
endeavoring to gain ground toward Richmond, but at the North 
Anna found itself once more confronted by Lee. Meade's 
army then crossed the Pamunkey and marched to the Chicka- 
hominy, and on the same ground where Fitz John Porter had 
been defeated almost two years previously. Grant ordered a 
general assault by Meade's army upon Lee behind intrench- 
ments, and within an hour had lost 10,000 men. The losses 
of Meade and Butler since they began to ach-ance had been 
about 61,000 men. 

Still, the ratio of Meade's strength to Lee's was greater than 
at the beginning of the campaign, for the Federal army had been 
reenforced by almost as many men as it had lost, while there 



CAMPAIGNS IN GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE 435 

could be no such help for Lee. After the battle on the Chicka- 
hominy, Grant pushed forward Meade's left again, crossed the 
James river, and suddenly attacked Petersburg. The town 
was stoutly defended by the few troops that could be collected, 
and was held until the advance divisions of Lee marched upon 
the field. Then Grant, with the Army of the James under 
Butler, and the Army of the Potomac under Meade, sat down 
before Petersburg with his right wing stretched beyond the 
James river, threatening Richmond; and his left wing stretched 
far south of the Appomattox river, threatening Petersburg; 
and both Federals and Confederates fortified and remained 
confronting each other for many months, with almost number- 
less combats occurring at different points along the lines of 
forty miles, Grant's relative strength constantly increasing, and 
Lee's army wearing away with the labor of watching and fighting 
an army three times as strong. 

CAMPAIGNS IN GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE 

Sherman advanced against Johnston at Dalton, at the same 529. Sher- 

time that Meade's army had advanced, and Johnston fell back ™*" ^ . 

-' . campaign 

after a combat at Resaca. Again Sherman came forward, and 
after a partial engagement at New Hope Church, Johnston 
fell back to Kennesaw mountain, where for almost two weeks 
the armies were in close contact, without, however, a general 
engagement being fought. On June 27, Sherman ordered a 
general assault, which was repulsed with heavy loss. Johnston, 
however, retired farther, and crossed the Chattahoochee. 
Johnston was regarded in the South as the greatest general in 
thCfCountry next to Lee. In fact, a good many believed him 
the greatest of all. He saved his men. He would retire rather 
than fight at a disadvantage. Sherman acknowledged his skill 
and his generalship. The Federals in this campaign had almost 
twice as many men as the Confederates. Sherman still advanced 
and crossed the Chattahoochee, and here President Davis, 
because of Johnston's disinclination to fight without prospect 
of victory, placed General Hood in command of the army. 



436 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



630. Bat- 
tles of 
Atlanta 



631. Hood' 

Tennessee 

campaign; 

Sherman's 

march 

through 

Georgia 



632. Bat- 
tles of 
Franklin 
and Nash- 
ville 



General Hood at once assumed the offensive. President 
Davis wished him to fight and he fought. On the 20th of July, 
Hood attacked Sherman and was repulsed. On the 2 2d of 
July, Hood again attacked, and was repulsed with very great 
loss. Again, on the 28th, Hood delivered an assault, which 
was easily repulsed. These battles had so weakened the Con- 
federate army that Sherman was enabled to throw strong 
forces toward the railroad at the south, and the movement 
forced Hood to evacuate Atlanta, which Sherman promptly 
occupied. 

Hood then began to march northward, believing that an 
advance into Tennessee would force Sherman to withdraw from 

Atlanta in order to protect 
his communications. Sherman 
followed, but not long. He 
soon determined that there 
were sufficient forces in north- 
ern Georgia and Tennessee to 
deal with Hood, and began to 
prepare for a march upon 
Savannah first, and then upon 
Richmond. On November 12, 
Sherman set out upon his 
march through Georgia, lay- 
ing waste the country as he went, for a breadth of sixty miles. 
On D.ecember .21, he occupied Savannah, which had been 
evacuated by a few troops under General Hardee, who crossed 
into South Carolina. 

Hood advanced into Tennessee, and at Franklin, on Novj?m- 
ber 30, attacked behind strong intrenchments General Scho- 
field, his old classmate at West Point, and lost some 6,000 
men; then, Schofield having withdrawn to form a junction with 
Thomas, his superior, Hood pushed on toward Nashville, held 
by Thomas's army, and sat down before the city. Thomas 
waited for rcenforcements, and on December 15 marched out 
and attacked Hood and gained a complete victory. 




Potter House, Atlanta, Showing 
Effects or Bombardment 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 



437 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 

From Savannah Sherman's army moved into South Caro- 533. Sher- 

lina, and that unfortunate state was made to feel a severity ™*° f 
' _ -' marches 

unusual in modern warfare. Columbia was occupied and northward 
burned. Sherman's movement in the rear of Charleston forced 
the evacuation of the city and the fall of Fort Sumter, which a 
few men had heroically defended against bombardments and 




Fort Sumter after the Bombardment, Dec. q, 1863 

assaults by the Federal fleets and armies until its walls were a 
mass of ruins. From Columbia, Sherman advanced into North 
Carolina, and, at Bentonville, again came into contact with 
General Joe Johnston, who had been restored to command, in 
a battle which had no decisive result. 

Hunter's destruction had not been confined to the Virginia 534. Early 
and Tennessee railroad (526) ; dwellings, barns, mills, and all ^'■^^*.^°^ 
kinds of private property had been burned. Lee determined ton 
to drive him from the Valley, and in June General Early, with 
a corps from the Army of Northern Virginia, marched upon 
Hunter, who at once retreated westward into the mountains. 
There being no other Federal troops between his force and 
Maryland, Early, pursuant to the orders of Lee, crossed the 
Potomac river, defeated General Lew Wallace at Monocacy, 
and suddenly appeared before the fortified lines of Washington. 
He made ready to attack, but before his preparations were 



438 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



535. Sheri- 
dan and 
Early — 
Sept. Oct. 
1864 



536. The 
Hampton 
Roads con- 
ference — 
Feb., 1865 



complete he was in great danger of being surrounded, and he 
decided to retreat into Virginia. Not long thereafter Early 
sent his cavalry into Pennsylvania. Chambersburg was burned, 
as a measure of retaliation, according to Early, for Hunter's 
destruction in the Shenandoah valley. 

Grant ordered General Sheridan with a powerful force to 
proceed to the Shenandoah valley, drive out Early, and lay 
waste the country. Near Winchester, Early was defeated; he 
made a stand at Fisher's Hill, only to suffer another disaster. 
Early's army then retreated far up the Valley, and Sheridan 
obeyed Grant's orders to devastate the country. 

A month later, at Cedar Creek, Early surprised Sheridan's 
army at daybreak, took its camp, and his men proceeded to 
enjoy themselves. While they were in this condition the Federals 
rallied, recovered their camp, and gained a substantial victory. 

With but a weak force to confront Sherman's veteran army 
in North Carolina, with still less to oppose Sheridan in the 
Valley, with but 40,000 men under Lee to resist Grant's two 
armies under Meade and Butler before Richmond and Peters- 
burg, the military situation of the Confederacy was hopeless. 
Her forces were finding daily augmenting difhculty in meeting 
in the open field Federals armed with the terrible Spencer maga- 
zine rifle; her navy had almost utterly perished with the sinking 
of the Alabama by the Kearsargc in June, 1864; her armies 
were rapidly dwindling without the possibility of recruitment, 
while with negro troops alone the Federal armies had been in- 
creased by 100,000 men in the past twelve months. The re- 
sources of the North were seemingly cxhaustless, and the civi- 
lized world was at her financial beck and call ; while the South- 
ern army before Petersburg was suffering for want of food. 
Peace, with honor for the South, had to a few men seemed pos- 
sible; a commission had been appointed to confer with Presi- 
dent Lincoln; and in February, A. H. Stephens, John A. Camp- 
bell, and R. M. T. Hunter were allowed to pass through 
Grant's lines as far as Hampton Roads, where they held a con- 
ference of four hours with Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward. 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 



439 




Mr. Stephens, the Confederate vice-president, introduced the 
subject of the Monroe Doctrine (346) ; he cited the weU-known 
fact that the repubhc in Mexico had been overthrown by a 
French army, acting under the authority and orders of Emperor 
Napoleon III; that as a monarch, 
Maximilian I now reigned in 
Mexico, sustained by European 
bayonets; and proposed to Mr. 
Lincoln that an armistice be 
agreed upon between the North 
and the South in order that the 
JVIonroe Doctrine be reasserted 
and a republic be reestablished 
beyond the Rio Grande. Mr. 
Stephens further developed his 
thought; the armistice would 
give time for men's passions to 
cool; the upholding of the Mon- 
roe Doctrine would restore a 
degree of sympathy between the sections, and the hoped-for 
result of the armistice would be peace. 

Evidently, Mr. Lincoln sympathized; but he felt forced to 
declare that no step could be taken until the South ceased its 
resistance to the Union. 

The capture of Fort Fisher, and the consequent fall of Wil- 537. The 
mington, rendered the blockade complete; the Confederacy ''i°<^^^^^ 
was now shut in from all the world except upon the Mexican 
border, where such a thriving commerce had by this time 
developed, that General Lew Wallace, on March 14, wrote to 
Grant: "Neither the port of New Orleans nor that of Baltimore 
can present to-day such a promise of commercial activity " as 
Brazos Santiago — the harbor near the mouth of the Rio 
Grande. 

General Wallace, even before the Hampton Roads confer- 538. Effort 
ence, knowing somewhat of the secret diplomacy which was }S ^^° 
leading up to it, became desirous to try his persuasive powers 



Alexander H. Stephens 



440 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



upon Texas. Grant gave his permission, and Wallace left his 
command in Maryland and proceeded to New Orleans, and 
thence to Brazos Santiago, where he soon obtained an interview 
with a Confederate brigadier-general, who agreed to transmit 




Texas Coast 
Showing points of occupation under Gen. N. P. Banks, November, i 



863 



to his superior in command a schedule of terms upon which the 
trans-Mississippi states would be received back into the Union. 
The document was forwarded to General John G. Walker, com- 
manding at Houston, who at once denounced the effort to detach 
Texas from the Confederacy as a proposition to induce the 
"blackest treason," and on March 27 wrote Wallace a rejection 
of his "insidious proposals." 

On March 4, 1865, Mr. Lincoln began his second term as 
president, having received the electoral votes of all the states 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 441 

except Delaware, New Jersey, and Kentucky, which cast their 639. Lin- 
votes for General George B. McClellan, the Democratic candi- ^"^ fnaug'- 
date. The vice-president for Mr. Lincoln's second term was uration 
Andrew Johnson, the military governor of Tennessee, a southern 
statesman who adhered to the Union rather than to his own state. 

General Lee and President Davis knew that Richmond and 540. As- 
Petersburg could not be held after the roads became sufficiently p^^^ g^^^, 
dry for Grant's army to move. Still, Lee would not retreat man 
without first delivering a blow; and on March 25, before dawn, 
General John B. Gordon led an attack on Fort Stedman. With 
unloaded muskets the troops went forward and seized the fort- 
ress; but daylight revealed that it was dominated by other 
batteries, which at once began to work upon the Confederates. 
Retreat or surrender were the alternatives; and in the retreat 
Gordon lost many men. 

On March 27, Sheridan, with two divisions of cavalry, formed 541. Sheri- 
a junction with the Army of the James and the Army of the r^rnforces' 
Potomac. Sheridan had marched his cavalry overland, de- Grant 
stroying as he came, while his infantry were transferred by water. 
Grant's entire force was now about 120,000 and Lee's 39,000. 

Pickett's infantry division, and Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry, hold- 542. The 
ing the right rear of the Confederate army, were defeated on Richmond 
March 31, at Five Forks, by Sheridan and Warren. 

Meanwhile, Grant had cannonaded Lee's lines night and day; 
and before dawn on April 2 he threw forward his troops in direct 
attacks and easily drove the thin Confederate line from its 
advanced position near Petersburg. On this morning. General 
A. P. Hill was killed; but his troops rallied in the interior forti- 
fications; the terrible defence of Forts Gregg and Whitworth 
gave time for evacuating the lines of Richmond; and at night- 
fall the army was in full retreat, with Meade, Sheridan, and Ord 
(commanding the Army of the James) vigorously pursuing. 
In these tremendous events Lee's generalship was displayed all 
the more because of his weakness. To evacuate Richmond, 
and unite his forces from the north side of the James with those 
on the south side of the Appomattox while both columns were 



442 



STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 



543. Lee's 
retreat 



544, Appo- 
mattox, 
April 9, 
1865 



retreating before a victorious army, add to the fame of the great 
Southern general, yet detract nothing from that of his adversary. 
At first, the retreat was directed toward forming a junction 
with Johnston. But the food supply failed; at Amelia Court- 
house, where Lee had ordered supplies brought from Danville 
for this emergency, he learned, to his overwhelming disappoint- 
ment, that the supply trains had not stopped there but had gone 
on into Richmond. There was nothing to do but continue the 
retreat in the hope of living on a country that had already been 
exhausted. Combats were fought each day; the men — those 
that were left — responded as of old to the call for battle, but 
human endurance had reached its limit when Lee found Sheridan 
obstructing his road on the 9th of April, while Grant's infantry 
were pressing on almost every side. 

The surrender at Appomattox displayed the nobility of both 
commanders. There was no petty demand for the defeated 
general's sword; there was, instead, every mark of true con- 
sideration for unfortunate valor and genius, 
and the fine manliness of Grant challenged 
and won the admiration and good-will of 
every Confederate soldier. 

Men cannot always, if ever, know what is 
best; yet it would seem that for the South 
to fight unto utter exhaustion, was the way 
to command the respect of the Northern 
people. If, on September 18, 1862, McClel- 
lan had advanced vigorously against Lee's 
crippled army backed against the Potomac, 
probably the war would have soon ended, 
but if the strong South of that day had 
yielded, she would forever have been con- 
temptible. On the other hand, it may easily 
be believed that the Federal bullet which cut 
the thread of Sidney Johnston's life, or the 
Confederate bullet which laid Stonewall Jackson low, prevented 
an overwhelming Southern x'ictory that might have led to peace 




Confederate Sol- 
dier IN Uniform 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 443 

with separation. So, too, it is conceivable that through panic, 
or through the loss of some great commander, the Union army 
should have failed to resist Lee's attack on July 3, 1864, and left 
the road open to Washington and to enforced peace. There 
were many times, perhaps hundreds of times, in that war, when 
it seemed to human eyes that the mightiest events turned upon 
the mental condition of a man. Jackson was shot down by his 
own men at the very moment when his life was of most impor- 
tance to the cause for which he fought; and the fact that 
Longstreet was shot one year later, in the same forest, by his 
own men, and at the precise instant when his leadership was 
equal to a great victory, multiplies many times the force of 
argument that the American Union owes its preservation to the 
Divinity that shapes our ends. And yet it was but the form of 
union, and not Union itself, that was recovered at Appomattox. 
In its power to restore a union of minds and hearts, the ability 
of Grant, the general, cannot be compared with the magnanim- 
ity of Grant, the man. Union came, but not from bayonets; 
it came at length, when passion ceased, and men on both sides 
put away prejudice, and learned to appreciate each other, made 
mutual confession, and freely forgave. 

Though it be true that men cannot always know what is best, 645. Death 
it is yet true that the future may approve or condemn their °} P''«si- 
judgment. The fatuous creature who slew Lincoln did untold Lincoln; 

harm to the South. The successor to the presidency, a South- Joh'^son 

'■ . -^ president 

erner, without prestige, unapt and powerless in face of the 

extreme condition, though honestly endeavoring to follow 

Mr. Lincoln's programme for restoring the civic functions of 

the South, proved utterly unable to control or even guide; 

perhaps there was no man on earth, who, at that moment of 

despair on one side and jubilant arrogance on the other, could 

have given direction to the influence of justice and good-will. 

Amidst the general delirium that marked the actions and words 

of common men of great rank, Lincoln's sanity was all the more 

remarkable. His word would have been law to his followers; 

he could have controlled the tempest that broke against the 



444 STRATEGY OF THE WAR: EAST 

South; but he, the man that would have proved her strongest 
help, fell before the weapon of an assassin who vainly had 
fancied that he was avenging the Confederacy. Lincoln's loss 
was truly mourned by the Southern people, and they had cause 
to mourn. 
646. The The surrender of Johnston to Sherman quickly followed that 
Confed- ^^ ^^^ ^° Grant; and within a few weeks the Western armies 
eracy yielded and the paroled Confederate soldiers returned to their 

poor homes, to begin a new life that looked to many of them a 
worse fate than had found those of their comrades who were 
sleeping forever beneath the sod on hundreds of battlefields. 
Few officials of the extinct Confederacy felt in their persons the 
oppression of military power. Mr. Davis was arrested and long 
kept in prison, but in the end was released without trial. Mr. 
Stephens, Postmaster-General Reagan, and a few others were 
subjected to a short imprisonment. 

SUMMARY 

McClellan adv'anced (1862) against Richmond by the Peninsular route, 
and at Seven Pines fought a two days' battle against J. E. Johnston, who 
was wounded. The command of the Confederate army devolved on R. E. 
Lee. Stonewall Jackson defeated the Federal armies in the Shenandoah 
valley, and made a junction with Lee. Stuart had ridden around Mc- 
Clellan's army. Lee attacked McClellan, June 26-July 2, and won the 
campaign. Lee advanced against Pope in August, defeated him on the 
battlefield of Manassas, and marched into Maryland. Jackson took 
Harper's Ferry and rejoined Lee in Maryland. McClellan attacked Lee 
at Sharpsburg September 17, but Lee held his position until September 19, 
then retired into V^irginia. Burnside succeeded McClellan and was defeated 
by Lee at Fredericksburg. In 1863 Hooker succeeded Burnside, and ad- 
vanced to Chancellorsville, where Lee attacked and defeated him. Meade 
succeeded Hooker. Lee attacked Meade for three successive days at 
Gettysburg; failing to dislodge him, Lee retired into Virginia. In 1864, 
Grant, commanding three armies led by Meade, Butler, and Sigcl, succeeded 
by Hunter, advanced against Lee, who attacked Meade while in the Wilder- 
ness, and gained the advantage. Grant's forces continued to envelop 
Richmond. Great battles were fought, and the siege of Richmond and 
Petersburg developed. Meantime, Sherman had advanced from Chatta- 
nooga against Bragg's army, now commanded by J. E. Johnston, who 



THE CLOSING CAMPAIGNS 



445 



retired fighting upon Atlanta. Johnston was succeeded by Hood, who 
attacked Sherman and was defeated. Atlanta fell. Hood marched into 
Tennessee and was defeated by Thomas at Nashville. Sherman marched 
to Savannah, and in 1865 advanced through the Carolinas to unite with 
Grant's armies before Petersburg. Lee evacuated his lines, and endeavored 
to form a junction with Johnston in North Carolina; but was forced to sur- 
render at Appomattox. Lee's surrender was followed by Johnston's to 
Sherman, and the commands west of the Mississippi gave up the struggle. 
President Lincoln was assassinated in Washington on April 14, and Andrew 
Johnson became president. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Give your idea of good generalship. 2. Why should Mr. Lincoln have so 
great fear in regard to Washington? 3. Explain why two battles more than a year 
apart were fought at Manassas, and a third at Bristoe Station very near Manassas? 
4. What power has the president over a general? How should this power be 
used? 5. Describe Grant's plans for the campaign of 1864. 6. Explain Grant's 
hammering, or attrition process and its necessary results. 7. Should the South 
have yielded in 1S62; in 1863; in 1S64? 8. Could Mr. Lincoln, with consistency, 
have accepted the plan proposed by Mr. Stephens in the Hampton Roads con- 
ference? 9. Could Texas alone have made terms with the United States, and 
maintained her honor? 10. If the Confederacy had succeeded in the war do you 
think the Southern states would have come back into the Union at any time? 
Discuss. 




The Confederate Flag 



CHAPTER XXIV 
RECONSTRUCTION— 1865-1876 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — - Burgess, Reconstruction and the Constitution; His- 
tories, by Rhodes, Fleming, and Wilson. 

Sources. — Official Records, vols. xlv-Iii; Stephens, Pictorial History U. S., book ii, 
chaps. 33-34; Hart, Source Book, vol. v; Contemporaries, vol. iv; Appleton, Annual 
Encyclopedia. 

Illustr,\tive M.\terial. — Avary, Dixie after tlie War. 



OPPOSING POLICIES 

547. A new Even before the war had closed, farseeing statesmen felt 

or an old ^^^^.t the triumph of the Union arms would not overcome all 

relation? 

national diflEiculties arising from the South's struggle for inde- 
pendence. How should the South be dealt with? What should 
be done with the negroes? Were all the citizens to be treated 
alike irrespective of their attitude toward the secession move- 
ment? And first of all, what was the relation of the seceded 
states to the Union? All these questions would be immediately 
pertinent when the war should cease with the destruction of 
the Confederacy, and would offer possibilities for serious division. 
Indeed, on the last question at least, there was already a differ- 
ence of opinion among the leaders of the Republican party. 

Senator Charles Sumner, in a speech before the United States 
Senate in 1862, set forth the state-suicide theory, and further 
elaborated that doctrine the next year when he declared, among 
other things, that "clearly, the Rebels, by utmost efforts, could 
not impair the national jurisdiction; but it remains to be seen 
if their enmity did not act back with fatal rebound upon those 
very state rights in behalf of which they commenced their 
treason. . . It is enough that, for the time being, and in the 
absence of a loyal government, they can take no part, and per- 

446 



548. Sum- 
ner's view, 
1862; 
Lincoln's 
view; his 
proclama- 
tion 



OPPOSING POLICIES 447 

form no function in the Union, so that they cannot be recog- 
nized by the national government. . . The new governments 
can all be organized by Congress, which is the natural guardian 
of people without any immediate government, and within the 
jurisdiction of the United States. . . And the whole Rebel 
region, deprived of all local government, lapses under the ex- 
clusive jurisdiction of Congress. . . The whole broad Rebel 
region is tabula rasa, or 'a clean slate,' where Congress, under 
the Constitution of the United States, may write the laws. . . 
When a state fails to maintain a republican government with 
ofiQcers sworn according to the requirements of the Constitu- 
tion, it ceases to be a constitutional state." 

In plain contrast with this view is the proclamation of Presi- 
dent Lincoln in the same year: "Whereas a rebellion now exists 
whereby the loyal state governments of several states have for 
a long time been subverted, and many persons have committed, 
and are now guilty of, treason against the United States; . . 
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, . . do 
further proclaim, declare, and make known that whenever, in 
the states of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, 
Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Caro- 
lina, a number of persons, not less than one-tenth in number of 
the votes cast in such state at the presidential election of the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each 
having taken the oath aforesaid and not having since violated 
it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the state 
existing immediately before the so-called act of secession and 
excluding all others, shall reestablish a state government which 
shall be republican and in no wise contravening said oath, such 
shall be recognized as the true government of the state, and the 
state shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional 
provision which declares that the ' United States shall guarantee 
to every state in this Union a republican form of government, 
and shall protect each of them against invasion; and, on appli- 
cation of the legislature, or the executive (when the legislature 
cannot be convened) against domestic \dolence'. . . Any 



448 RECONSTRUCTION 

provision which may be adopted by such state government in 
relation to the freed people of such state, which shall recognize 
and declare a permanent freedom, provide for their education, 
and which may yet be consistent as a temporary arrangement 
with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless 
class, will not be objected to by the national executive." The 
inference is that Lincoln meant to follow a conciliatory policy 
toward the South; had he lived, he might have saved the 
Southern people many hardships and much embarrassment. 
Lincoln considered that Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana had 
returned to their "proper practical relation" before the war 
closed, for under the stress of war, the differences of opinion in 
Congress had not become so pronounced as to be obstructive in 
their nature. The administration proceeded orderly enough, 
though with baitings on the part of Congress, with a consistent 
policy, the purpose of which was a final reconstruction of the 
Union. Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, the 
Fugitive Slave Law was repealed, and freedom was given those 
negroes who served with the Federal armies. 
549. The In April, 1864, the United States Senate proposed a constitu- 
Thirteenth ^^^Qj^r^j amendment formally abolishing slavery. There was not 
ment in the House the necessary two-thirds majority in its favor, and 

the proposal failed for the time. But in January, 1865, it was 
carried and, with the aid of the Southern states, it was ratified 
by the necessary three-fourths of the states, and became the 
thirteenth amendment on December 18, 1865. It provided that 
"neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish- 
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place sub- 
ject to their jurisdiction." This amendment had been secured 
through the persistent efforts of President Lincoln, and did 
not satisfy many of his party who found difficulty in subjecting 
passion to reason. 

Moreover, in his second inaugural address, March 4, 1865, 
Lincoln had shown the forgiving spirit when he said, "With 
malice towards none, with charity for all; with firmness in the 



OPPOSING POLICIES 



449 



right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish 
the work we are in." 

Men Hke Chase and Stevens could not understand the mild 550. Oppo- 
temper and pacific policy of Lincoln, and began planning "to j'.**°'^ *° 
thrust their hands into Southern affairs to control them, to make policy 
good the freedom and privilege of the negroes even at the cost 
of all privilege to those who had been their masters." 

The vie\vpoint of these headstrong partisans is fully expressed 
in the declaration of Thaddeus Stevens that the Southern states 
"ought never to be recognized 
as capable of acting in the 
Union, or of being recognized 
as valid states, until the Con- 
stitution should have been so 
amended as to make it what 
its makers intended, and so as 
to secure perpetual ascendency 
to the party oj the Union.'^ 
With such proclivities, they 
chafed considerably because 
the president so tactfully re- 
strained the radical sentiment 
of the country, and so effectu- 
ally hindered their designs in 
Congress. When Lincoln was assassinated the balance wheel 
of the administration's machinery was lost. 

Johnson wished to continue practically the same broad and 551. The 
generous policy that his predecessor had begun, and, therefore, ^^"^ presi- 
naturally came into conflict with the leaders of the Republican policy — 
party. But there were other sources of discord. In the first ^^^S 
place he was known to be a Democrat who had been elected vice- 
president by the Republicans because such selection would tend, 
it was thought, to promote Union sentiment in the Border 
states (476, 497). He could not, therefore, reasonably be 
expected to become an efficient and wise party leader, though 
Benjamin Wade, a prominent radical senator, did ejaculate 




Andrew Johnson 



45° 



RECONSTRUCTION 



552. John- 
son's 
amnesty 
proclama- 
tion 



653, The 
freedmen; 
vagrancy 
laws 



soon after Johnson's inauguration: "Johnson, we have faith in 
you. By the gods! there will be no trouble now in running the 
government." But circumstances proved that he had reckoned 
without his host. 

Then, too, Johnson, like Lincoln, had a will of his own. But, 
unlike Lincoln, he lacked poise and tact. Reared in the moun- 
tains of eastern Tennessee, he carried with him into the executive 
office the rugged and uncompromising character of the moun- 
taineer. Thoroughly consistent, he now, as president, was 
governed by one ideal — the preservation of the Union. In his 
Washington's Birthday speech (i866) he declared that "there 
were two parties. One would destroy the government to pre- 
serve slavery. The other would break up the government 
to destroy slavery. . , They agreed in one thing — the de- 
struction of the government, precisely what I was always 
opposed to." 

Holding this sentiment, Johnson began his work as president 
with an amnesty proclamation similar to that issued almost 
three years earlier by President Lincoln, though it was slightly 
more thorough-going in its dealings with Confederate officials. 
Under the provisions of this executive proclamation, and acting 
with the knowledge that the Southern states had been asked by 
Congress to ratify the thirteenth amendment,' such voters in 
the seceded states as could take the oath held constitutional 
conventions (1865) and adopted fundamental laws abolishing 
slavery and establishing republican forms of government.- 

Accordingly, they expected representation in this Congress, 
which convened in December of that year. 

But just here their plans went awry, and their expectations 
came to nought; and so did those of the president. The legis- 
latures chosen in accordance with these new constitutions were 
proceeding to solve, in their own way, a problem which to them 

' It should be borne in mind that Congress had unwittingly recognized the 
validity of the Southern state governments of 1861-1865, in asking for their radii- 
cation of the thirteenth amendment. If these governments were not valid then 
the thirteenth amendment is and has always been invalid. 

* Texas alone failed to avail herself of this proclamation. 



JOHNSON vs. CONGRESS 451 

was a very serious one. The sudden emancipation of hundreds 
of thousands of negroes who were in every way unprepared for 
citizenship, had produced social, economic, and political chaos. 
To the ignorant negro, his new freedom meant license to do as 
he might choose. He understood nothing of the intellectual 
and spiritual meaning of emancipation and, as yet, cared less. 
Consequently, in many instances his unbridled passions ran 
riot in unspeakable deviltry, threatening or destroying the 
safety of Southern homes. To be sure, great numbers of the 
freedmen had preferred to remain with their former masters 
and sustain themselves by their industry, but thousands of the 
younger and more restless negroes prowled about the country, 
satisfying their wants and desires in whatsoever way they could. 
The legislatures of the Southern states very appropriately 
took in hand the matter of improving conditions. In several 
states, notably Mississippi and South Carolina, vagrancy laws 
were passed very much like the vagrancy laws of many of the 
Northern states. Legislatures, of course, sought the arrest 
and punishment of idle and lawless freedmen in order to protect 
the lives and property of all the people. Unusual penalties 
were imposed in some cases, but unparalleled exigencies de- 
manded them. In many cases the existence of a written con- 
tract signed by proper persons was requisite to avoid the charge 
of vagrancy, because vagrancy was the mother of a brood of 
crimes. Minor negroes should be bound out to service until 
they should become of age, and negroes unable to pay fines 
were sometimes hired out in a sort of convict bond fashion, but 
these young negroes unrestrained were a source of greatest 
danger. 

JOHNSON vs. CONGRESS 

Congress, incapable of fair judgment under the influence of 554^ coq. 
passion, could not understand that the legislative measures in gress un- 
the South were necessary to the preservation of property and ^jjg ^^^k 
the protection of Southern families. It believed, and very of recon- 
naturally, too, looking from the Northern viewpoint, that the ^355 
South had determined to reduce the negro to bondage again, 



452 RECONSTRUCTION 

and to undo all the work of the Ci\'il War with regard to slavery. 
Accordingly, when Congress met on December 4, 1S65, it pro- 
ceeded to organize without Southern representatives and sen- 
ators, not even so much as pronouncing the names of the seceded 
states in the roll call. It did, however, pass a concurrent resolu- 
tion establishing a joint committee of nine representatives and 
six senators whose duty it was to investigate the relation of the 
seceded states to the Union, and, therefore, their right to repre- 
sentation in Congress. 

In the following February another concurrent resolution was 
passed, providing that no Southern senator or representative 
should be admitted to Congress until that body had proclaimed 
the full readmission of the seceded states. This meant, of 
course, that Congress intended to perform the work of recon- 
struction. It was the expression of a feeling, which had long 
been gathering momentum in Congress, that the executive had 
exceeded his constitutional authority in the whole matter; and 
certainly the Constitution does give Congress the right to judge 
the qualifications of its own members. 
555. The But President Johnson had no inclination to surrender to 

president Congress the whole process of reconstruction. When, on Febru- 
opposes ^ "^ ..... 

Congress ary 6, 1866, Congress passed a bill continuing indefinitely the 

Freednien's Bureau, which had been created the previous year 
for the purpose of heavily punishing those who in any way ob- 
structed or abridged the rights of former slaves, the president 
promptly vetoed it on the ground that Congress had passed the 
measure without Southern representation. A few days later, 
he took Congress to task for violating the Constitution in 
vesting the right to judge of the qualifications of its own mem- 
bers in the committee of fifteen. On the same occasion he 
pointed out the inconsistency of Congress as follows: "By 
this rule they assume a state is out of the Union, and to have its 
practical relations restored by that rule, before the House can 
judge of the qualifications of its own members. What position 
is that? You have been struggling for four years to put down 
a rebellion. You contended in the beginning of that struggle 



JOHNSON vs. CONGRESS 453 

that a state had not a right to go out. You said it had neither 
the right nor the power, and it has been settled that the states 
had neither right nor the power to go out of the Union. And 
when you determine by the executive, by the miUtary, and by 
the pubUc judgment that these states cannot have any right to 
go out, this Committee turns around, and assumes that they 
are out, and that they shall not come in." This whole dis- 
cussion is a vigorous and bold attack upon Stevens, Sumner, 
Phillips, and men of like stamp, even impeaching and incriminat- 
ing their motives and their patriotism. 

Congress retaliated in the following month by taking the 556. The 
reins into its own hands and adopting a joint resolution (March 2, S^^'^. . 
1S66) providing that neither House would admit Southern vetoed but 
representation until Congress as a whole should give its consent; Passed 
and on April 9, by passing "an Act to protect all persons in the 
United States in their Civil Rights, and furnish the Means of 
their Vindication," and asserting that "all persons born in the 
United States, and not subject to any foreign power . . . are 
. . . citizens of the United States." The measure further pre- 
scribed greater restrictions upon those who in any way inter- 
fered with the liberties of any citizen, and empowered Federal 
courts to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over such cases. The 
president vetoed this act, and Congress passed it over his veto. 

To make secure its work. Congress (June, 1866) proposed 557. The 
the fourteenth amendment, which provides that "all persons ^"""^^^^^ 
born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the ment pro- 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of p*'^®^' 
•' _ ' _ \ Southern 

the state wherein they reside. " The amendment forbids the represen- 
states to "abridge the privileges ... of the citizens" . . . or*^*'°°^^^" 
"deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due 
process of law," and prescribes as a penalty for the infraction 
of this amendment a reduction of the congressional representa- 
tion from the state guilty of infraction. It declares invalid all 
debts "incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States"; and it also excludes from office the leaders of 
the Confederacy, except when a two-thirds vote of Congress 



454 RECONSTRUCTION 

should ''remove such disability." Finally, the ratification of 
this amendm^it by the Southern states was generally under- 
stood, though not yet formally declared, to be prerequisite to 
readmission. 

Immediately following the proposal of the fourteenth amend- 
ment, the committee of fifteen reported: "The conclusion of 
your committee therefore is, that the so-called Confederate 
States are not, at present, entitled to representation in the 
Congress of the United States; that before allowing such 
representation, adequate security for future peace and safety 
should be required." 
558. The It was the season of congressional elections, and the cam- 
1^°^' paign was fierce between the president and his friends on the 
Act; miii- one side, and congressional leaders on the other. Congress 
iSili^^ ^' ^^^^ overwhelmingly, and came together in the following 
March (1867) in order to circumvent executive direction pending 
the regular meeting of Congress in the following December.' 
In the meantime, the Southern states had nearly all rejected 
the fourteenth amendment; while Congress had overridden the 
president's veto in conferring universal suffrage upon the 
negroes of the District of Columbia, had admitted Nebraska 
to the Union, March i, 1867, and had enacted into law the 
Reconstruction Act on the following day. As completed during 
that month it provided, "that said rebel states shall be divided 
into military districts, and made subject to the military authority 
of the United States as hereinafter prescribed, and for that 
purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North 
Carolina and South Carolina, the second district; Georgia, 
Alabama, and Florida the third district; Mississippi and 
Arkansas the fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth 
district; . . that it shall be the duty of the President to assign 
to the command of each of said districts an officer of the army 
. . . and to detail a sufficient military force to enable such 
officer to perform his duties and enforce his authority within 
the district to which he is assigned. " These military governors 

' See Constitution, Art. I, Sec. 4. 



JOHNSON vs. CONGRESS 455 

should complete the process of reconstruction by allowing 
qualified male citizens to hold an election in the respective states 
for the purpose of choosing delegates to a constitutional con- 
vention. When such convention had submitted its proposed 
constitution to the qualified male citizens for ratification, and 
these in turn had adopted it, such constitution should then be 
sent to Congress for ratification. When Congress should ratify 
it, and when the state, through its legislature, should ratify the 
fourteenth amendment, such state should then be readmitted 
to representation in Congress. To quote from Burgess's Re- 
construction and the Constitution: "There was hardly a line in 
the entire bill which would stand the test of the Constitution. 

. The bill was the most brutal proposition ever introduced 
into the Congress of the United States by a responsible com- 
mittee, and it would never have been tolerated except at such a 
time of partisan excitement and exaggerated suspicions." 

The result of the reconstruction act, so far as the South was 559. The 
concerned, was to establish a corrupt and wholly inefficient !'^^P®*~ 
military despotism which added much to the cup of bitterness govem- 
of which the South had already drunk, and greatly interfered ™®°*s 
with the South's own reconstruction of her better self. The 
officials placed in charge of the reconstruction processes were 
too often self-seeking politicians who used the ignorant negroes 
to secure control of the constitutional conventions and the state 
governments; and who, being ignorant of conditions in the 
South, could not have given efficient administration had they 
so desired. Negroes, either alone, or in conjunction with small 
squads of "carpet-baggers," as these federal officials were 
named by the Southerners, came into control of all the ma- 
chinery of government, and used their authority with wanton 
and ruthless extravagance. Taxes became burdensome, public 
debts increased with incredible swiftness, and the disfranchised 
white man was left robbed, stript, bruised, bleeding, bent 
uixler his burden, misunderstood, maligned, and outlawed. 

Gradually the states were "reconstructed," and by Janu- 
^•ry 3O) 1 87 1, all of them had been reinstated and rehabilitated. 



456 



RECONSTRUCTION 



560. The 
Fifteenth 
Amend- 
ment 
proposed 



561, The 
Tenure of 
Office Act 
— 1868 



The fourteenth amendment, of course, had been adopted of 
necessity, and Congress, on February 26, 1S69, to make assur- 
ance doubly sure, proposed the fifteenth amendment, which 
forbade the United States or any state thereof to abridge the 
rights of any citizen of the United States to vote "on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude." The ratifica- 
tion of this amendment was made prerequisite to the admission 
of Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia, states which had 
been slow in the process of reconstruction. This amendment 
became a part of the constitutional law on March 30, 1870. 

On the same day Congress passed the first reconstruction 
act and "An Act regulating the Tenure of Certain Civil 
Offices." Under the Constitution, a great many of the federal 
officers receive their appointment through the executive branch 
of government with the consent of the Senate. But the Con- 
stitution makes no express declaration regarding removals from 
these offices. Custom, however, had given the right to the 
president to remove such officials without the consent of the 
Senate, since such power seemed necessary to the efficient 
execution of administrative policies. But Congress and the 
president had now reached such disagreement that when John- 
son removed officials Congress suspected that he did it solely 
because they disagreed with him over questions of reconstruc- 
tion. Therefore it passed the measure mentioned for the pur- 
pose of depriving the president of the right to reinove officers 
without the consent of the Senate; it further provided that 
members of the cabinet should remain in office one month after 
the presidential term should expire. It gave the president 
power, however, to suspend cabinet members when the Senate 
was not in session, with the proviso that the body might restore 
such suspended member if, after investigation, it should decide 
to do so. Violation of this act, in any particular, was punishable 
by a maximum fine of ten thousand dollars or a maximum 
imprisonment of five years, or both. 

In the summer following the adjournment of Congress, the 
president called for the resignation of Secretary of War Edwin 



JOHNSON vs. CONGRESS 457 

M. Stanton. The secretary refused to resign, and the president, 562. Stan- 
within the authority of the Tenure of Office Act, suspended him *°"' *^® 
from ofl&ce. When the Senate convened it refused to ratify the meat trial 
order of suspension, and the president again removed Stanton, 
acting this time upon the conviction that the Senate had ex- 
ceeded its constitutional right in passing the act.^ Again Stanton 
refused to be removed, and this time appealed to the House of 
Representatives. This body, on February 24, 1868, by a vote 
of 128 to 47, resolved to impeach the president. The Senate 
concurred, and on March 6, an order was issued summoning 
the president to make answer by March 13. On March 23 
a request for thirty days extension of time in which to prepare 
for trial was denied, and on March 30, the trial was opened, 
with Chief Justice Chase presiding. After several weeks' pro- 
ceedings, 35 senators voted "guilty" and 19 "not guilty." ^ 
As a two-thirds vote was necessary for conviction, the president 
had won. Stanton resigned and the disgraceful episode was at 
an end. 

But the impeachment trial and its incidents had aroused the 563. Grant 
most bitter sentiments throughout the country. Johnson had president — 
gone about pouring out the vials of his wrath upon Congress, 1868 
while congressmen and Republican newspapers in turn exe- 
crated the man whom they had made president. It was the 
year of the national election, and the Republican convention 
met a few days after the impeachment proceedings. It en- 
thusiastically chose Ulysses S. Grant for its presidential can- 
didate, and showed plainly its intention of supporting the 
congressional plan of reconstruction. The Democrats nomi- 
nated Horatio Seymour of New York, and accepted the Re- 
publican challenge. In the popular vote General Grant received 

1 The president's discussions of the constitutionality of these two measures, 
the Reconstruction Act and the Tenure of OfEce Act, are among the ablest state 
papers in the history of the country, and are generally accepted now by the highest 
legal authority in the nation as " masterpieces of political logic, constitutional in- 
terpretation, and official style." 

2 Seven Republicans and 12 Democrats voted for acquittal. All but one of 
these seven Republican senators lost their seats in the next election. 



458 RECONSTRUCTION 

a majority of about 300,000 out of a total of six million. In the 
electoral college Grant received 214 to Seymour's 80. Johnson's 
retirement from the presidency was not the close of his politi- 
cal service; in 1875 he was elected United States senator from 
Tennessee, and he died in oflBce the same year. 

SUMMARY 

Northern politicians found themselves in a dilemma. If the act or 
ordinance of secession was constitutional and valid, the "so-called" Con- 
federacy had been a de jure government, and consequently the war against 
it had been one of oppression; but if the ordinance of secession was uncon- 
stitutional, and therefore null and void, the Southern states had never left 
the Union, and were entitled to equality under the Constitution. Mr. 
Lincoln's view (that a "rebellion" had existed and that upon its suppression 
within each state such state should be encouraged to exercise the functions 
of a member of the Union) was maintained by President Johnson. He 
lacked, however, the qualities and the power of Mr. Lincoln. He issued an 
amnesty proclamation, and the Southern states, generally, held conventions 
and adopted constitutions prohibiting slavery and setting up forms of 
republican states under the United States Constitution. But the senators 
and representatives elected by these states were not allowed by Congress 
to take their seats, and there followed an unseemly conflict between the 
national legislature and the executive. Meanwhile, the Southern states 
were endeavoring to control the newly freed and irresponsible negro, and to 
build again some degree of material prosperity. Congress proposed the 
fourteenth amendment, placed the South under military rule in 1867, and 
the carpet-bag governments followed. The Tenure-of-ofEce Act (1868) 
and the removal of Stanton gave rise to an impeachment trial in which the 
president was acquitted by one vote. In the same year Grant was elected 
president. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Was the act of secession forbidden by the Constitution? 2. Discuss the 
constitutional right for the formation of West Virginia. 3. In what essential does 
the fourteenth amendment differ from the thirteenth? 4. Do you consider suffrage 
a universal right? 5. Do negroes, as a rule, vote in the South? Discuss. 6. Why 
do states and municipalities enact laws and ordinances for the suppression of va- 
grancy? 7. What was the purpose of the Civil Rights Act? 8. Why did most of 
the Southern states reject the fourteenth amendment? 9. Does the adoption of 
the thirteenth amendment confirm, or does it attack the constitutional right of 
Mr. Lincoln to free the slaves as a war measure? 10. Did Mr. Lincoln free the 
slaves? 



acter of 
Grant 



CHAPTER XXV 
RECONSTRUCTION — Concluded 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Burgess, Reconstruction and the Constitution; His- 
tories as for chap. xxiv. 

Sources. — A. H. Stephens, Pictorial History of U. S., book ii, chap, xxxv; 
Hart, Source Book; Contemporaries. * 

Illustrative Material. — Grady, The New South; Tourgee, A Fool's 
Errand. 

STRUGGLE FOR HOME RULE IN THE SOUTH 

The few years immediately following the retirement of Presi- 564. Char- 
dent Johnson were characterized by the completion of the 
process of reconstruction under the immediate direction of 
Congress, by the restoration of the Southern state governments 
to the Southern white man, and by the recovery of material 
prosperity in a measure and a return to sanity on the part of the 
people, both North and South. 

The new president was a man of entirely different mold from 
the one who was retiring. His election was the tribute which 
the jubilant North paid to the man who had led its armies to 
victory over stubborn and resourceful opposition. Untrained 
in affairs, a failure in the management of his own business but 
for a military record he could never have attained high civil 
station. He had two supreme virtues, however: he was honest 
beyond the concept on of a majority of his public contempo- 
raries and his patriotism was as sincere as his integrity was deep. 
Indeed, his own honesty led him to put implicit faith in his 
feliowmen, many of whom, in this time that tried men's souls, 
were swept by the lust of office and the greed for gold into the 
purlieus of rapine and plunder. Astute politicians took advan- 
tage of the president's trustful nature and used him as a tool for 

459 



46o 



RECONSTRUCTION 



665. The 

North 

distrusts 

Southern 

purposes; 

the Loyal 

League 



566. The 
Ku-Klux 
organiza- 
tion 



the accomplishment of selfish ends. The result was a great 
moral laxness in the administration of public affairs and an 
abnormal development of the idea that public office is a private 
perquisite. It would not be fair, however, to attribute this 
result entirely to President Grant's confiding nature, because 
it was a i:)eriod when ungovernable passions dominated the 
thoughts and actions of many men. 

A low conception of public office is worst revealed in the 
continued process of reconstructing the South. It has been the 
conviction of dispassionate judges that the period immediately 
following the close of the war was "blacker and more hopeless 
than the worst experiences of the war." ^ 

The promptness with which the Southern states accepted the 
terms of President Johnson's amnesty proclamation, their cjuick 
denial of the civil equality of the freedmen with the whites, their 
refusal to accept the proposed fourteenth amendment, their 
vagrancy laws, and their evident intention to resume entire 
control of affairs at the South, led the North to suspect that the 
real purpose of Southern white men was to reenslave the negro. 
Accordingly, as early as 1866 there began the formation of negro 
organizations under the leadership of Northern politicians. 
The purpose of these secret organizations, it seems, was the 
building up of a Republican political machine; they soon took 
the name of the Loyal League. 

Almost at the same time, there arose an organization of 
Southern white men called the Ku-Klux Klan. It, too, seemed 
chiefly perhaps a political body whose purpose was to secure to 
the white people of the South the control of Southern society 
and politics. The Reconstruction Act of 1S67 having placed 
the ignorant negro in practical political control of every state 
in the late Confederacy,- the Ku-Klux attempted, with more or 
less success, the practical defeat of this measure by a policy of 

' Burgess, Rcconslruclion and Constitution. 

- From the point of view of sound political science the imposition of universal 
negro suffraRe upon the Southern communities, in some of which the negroes were 
in large majority, was one of the "Jjlunder crimes" of the century. — Burgess, 
Reconstruction and t/tc Constitution, p. 244. 



STRUGGLE FOR HOME RULE 461 

intimidation. They rode about at night on their snow-white 
horses, flogging the political leaders, both white and black, and 
terrorizing the ignorant and superstitious negroes. In this way 
they kept down a good deal of lawlessness on the part of the 
negro and in some instances changed the election results by 
keeping him away from the polls or otherwise nullifying his 
newly-acquired political privilege. 

"Meanwhile," to quote Burgess again, "the new ' state ' 567. Social 
governments had well begun their career of corruption, shame, ^^^sorder 
and vulgarity. They were plundering the treasury, increasing Carpet-bag 
the taxes, selling franchises, issuing bonds, and celebrating high ^^^ 
carnival everywhere and all the time." The gentlemen of the 
old school, and the political leaders of the old class, looked on 
with bitter feelings of mortification and anger, while the irre- 
sponsible were stirred to deeds of intimidation and violence. 
Between the Ku-Klux on the one hand and the "Carpet- 
baggers," "scalawags,"^ and negro leaders on the other, the 
feeling had become so intense as to prevent any general move- 
ment toward the restoration of material and intellectual devel- 
opment in the South. Riots occurred in various places, and 
lynchings, arson, and theft terrorized society throughout the 
South. The whole region was divided into two hostile fac- 
tions. The Ku-Klux had the sympathy of the respectable 
white element, and the political exploiters from the North 
appealed to the Federal government for aid. 

The administration responded with the passage of the En- 568. The 
forcement Act of May 31, 1870. By this measure the govern- ment^Acts 
ment sought to prevent the intimidation of negro voters, — 1870 
penalizing every individual or combination of individuals who 
in any way should attempt to "prevent, hinder, control, or 
intimidate any person from exercising the right of suffrage, and 
to whom the right of suffrage is secured or guaranteed by the 
fifteenth amendment of the Constitution of the United States, 
by means of bribery, or by threats of depriving such person of 

' This was the name for Southern white men who connived at the carpet-bag 
and negro domination. Possibly the word was derived from the French sceleral. 



462 RECONSTRUCTION 

employment or occupation, or of ejecting such person from 
rented home, lands, or other property, or by threats of refusing 
to renew leases or contracts for labor, or by threats of violence 
to himself or family." It is now generally agreed by competent 
authority that this bill was outside the constitutional power of 
Congress, but it was election year and unless something were 
done to prevent it the "reconstructed" states might send 
Democratic representatives and senators to Congress in the 
autumn. As it was, the Democratic vote was heavy enough to 
indicate the trend of public sentiment at the South, and con- 
sequently Congress returned to the assault in the following 
February with a "Supplementary Act to Enforce the Fifteenth 
Amendment." This measure placed the whole cjuestion of 
Congressional elections under Federal supervision, its authority 
enforced by deputy marshals, and interpreted by the Circuit 
Courts of the United States. On March 23, President Grant 
appealed to Congress for power to protect life and property in 
the South, and to make secure the handling of the United States 
mails. Congress was not slow to respond. On April 20, it 
passed "An Act to Enforce the Provisions of the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and for 
other ])urposes." This act virtually deprived the "states" of 
the right to regulate their own elections and empowered the 
president to resort to martial law at his discretion. He never 
made general use of this new power, but in the following autumn 
he suspended the writ of habeas corpus in some of the states and 
he brought many of the Ku-Klux to severe punishment. 

NATION/\L ELECTIONS — 1872-1876 

569. The '^^^ radical Republicans in power in the state governments 
Liberal Re- at the South perpetrated the extremes of extravagance, fraud, 
1872"^*'^^ and corruption.^ The abuse of federal power, and the shame- 

' In describing conditions in South Carolina, Burgess says: "The House of 
Representatives, the majority of the members of which were negroes, and the 
presiding officer of which was the notorious F. J. Moses, spent ninety-five thousand 
dollars to refurnish its assembly hall, where the aristocrats of South Carolina had 
never spent over five thousand. Clocks, costing six hundred dollars each, desks at 



NATIONAL ELECTIONS— 1872-1876 463 

ful conduct of the state governments reacted upon the Republi- 
can party at the North and resulted in the formation of the 
Liberal Republican party in the spring of 1872. They drew 
up a platform advocating the withdrawal of military govern- 
ment from the South and the removal of the disabilities of 
Southern white men. They nominated Horace Greeley for 
president and were soon supported by the Democrats, who now 
despaired of recovering their former power through the election 
of a partisan Democrat. In the election which followed, Greeley 
carried Maryland, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and 
Missouri, all of which were in a measure free from negro domina- 
tion. He lost, however, all the Northern states, and was, 
therefore, overwhelmingly defeated. This was the signal, as 
the carpet-baggers took it, for increased plunder of the state 
governments, but if they had been wise they might have seen 
in the Republican split and the increasing vote of the Demo- 
crats in several of the Northern states a warning against their 
unscrupulous methods. 

Two years more of carpet-bag rapine brought about the 570. Dem- 
further undoing of the Republican party, and in the elections of °*^y^*^*: 
1874 the Republican majority of two-thirds in the lower house 1874; 
of Congress was supplanted with a similar majority for the ^^°didates 
Democrats. Moreover, three more of the states freed them- 
selves from negro control and turned their governments back 
into the hands of the Southern whites.^ The backbone of the 
negro domination had been broken. In the next year South 
Carolina and Mississippi, the two states which had the greatest 
proportion of negroes, overturned the carpet-bag rule and 
placed the Democratic party in power. 

The rising tide of opposition to Republican misrule mani- 

a hundred and twenty-five dollars each, mirrors at six hundred dollars each, cus- 
pidors at eight dollars each — such were the items of the bill. Then came the 
hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for a free restaurant, lunch counter, and 
bar, at which the members and their friends fared most royally, eating, drinking, 
and smoking, and paying not a penny therefor directly, nor indirectly, since many, 
if not most, of the members of that legislature paid no stiver of the taxes." 

* Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas elected Democratic governors and legislatures. 



464 



RECONSTRUCTION 



571. The 
Electoral 
Com- 
mission 



festcd itself in the national election of 1S76. The Democrats 
nominated Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York for presi- 
dent — a man in whom the country had come to have confidence 
on account of his success in breaking up rotten political rings 
in his own state. The Republicans nominated, after consider- 
able wrangling, a compromise candidate in the person of Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes of Ohio. The National Greenback party, 
which had just been organized in opposition to the Resump- 
tion Act,' and which advocated a paper currency convertible 
into United States interest-bearing bonds, likewise nominated 
candidates, as did also the National Prohibition party, which 
had for its object the abolition of the whisky traffic. 

"The bloody shirt" was the chief factor in the campaign and 
naturally enough the contest was bitter. When the election 
returns came in, it appeared that Tilden had a large popular 
majority as well as an electoral majority of thirty-seven.- But 
the Republicans charged irregularities in the elections of South 
Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, and Oregon, and claimed that 
their candidates were entitled to the legal votes in these states. 
If so, Hayes would receive 185 votes, or one more than a major- 
ity; but if the Democrats could retain even one of those dis- 
puted votes Tilden would be elected by a majority of one vote. 
Each party made its own returns and the matter went before 
Congress for settlement. The House was Democratic and the 
Senate Republican.^ Upon failure of these two bodies to reach 
an agreement as to which had jurisdiction in the case, they 
created an Electoral Commission composed of five members 
chosen by the House of Representatives, five members chosen 
by the Senate, and five judges of the Supreme Court. It was 
expected that seven Democrats, seven Republicans and one 

1 On January 14, 1875, Congress had passed an Act which provided that on and 
after January i, 1870, all bills of the United States should he redeemable in gold 
coin upon presentation to the treasury. 

* If these returns were correct, Tilden had 203 electoral votes and Hayes 166. 

^ Here the Constitution failed to give needed direction. It simply directs that 
"The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted." 
No officer, board, or body of ofTicials had authority to do the simple act of counting. 




NOTE. 

The United States seized part of West Florida 

in 1810, and part in 1812. 



from 



Greenwich 82 



R,.D,.ServoS8,.Eiig'r, H. X. 



NATIONAL ELECTIONS — 1S72-1S76 



465 




Rutherford B. Hayes 



independent would be chosen, but this [)lan miscarried through 
the election to the United States Senate of the only independent 
member of the Supreme Court, 
and so the fifteenth member 
was chosen from among the 
Republicans. Considering the 
partisan rancor of the times 
the result was a foregone con- 
clusion. On every issue that 
arose the vote stood eight to 
seven and finally, the day be- 
fore the inauguration, the com- 
mission announced that Hayes 
and Wheeler had received 185 
votes to 184 for Tilden and 
Hendricks. Feeling subsided 
very quickly and people soon 
turned their attention to other matters. 

Perhaps it was not important after all whether Hayes or 572. The 
Tilden should be president, for they differed little in regard to j"ason 
the Southern question. But the succession of events taken 
together was very significant. In the first place, the vote of 
the people was prima facie evidence that reason was beginning 
to supplant passion at the ballot box and that the South was 
again taking her place in the national life and was being per- 
mitted more and more to control her own local affairs. In the 
second place, the calm acceptance of the work of the Electoral 
Commission, which was plainly contrary to the wishes of a 
majority of the people, was no small tribute to the character 
and ideals of American citizenship. In the third place, it was 
prophetic of a change in administrative policy, since the incoming 
president was peacefully disposed toward the South. This 
meant, of course, the gradual retirement of the war question 
from the predominant place in national politics and the rise of 
such policies as would promote the peace, happiness, and pros- 
perity of the people on both sides of Mason and Di.xon's line. 



466 



RECONSTRUCTION 



573. The 
French in 
Mexico 



574. The 
"Alabama" 
arbitra- 
tion; 
fisheries 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 

While the Union was thus being welded in the fire of civil and 
I^olitical discord and under the hammerings of a ponderous 
congressional majority, a shower of small troubles with Europe 
was giving it a firm temper. The friendly sentiment in England 
and France toward the Confederacy had given rise to resentful 
feeling on the part of the Federal government. France had 
gone so far as to improve the opportunity by trying to gain a 
foothold in the Western Hemisphere. In i86i, by command 
of Napoleon III, a French army about 50,000 strong landed in 
Mexico for the purpose of conquest. It was easily successful, 
and straightway an empire was proclaimed with Archduke 
Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria, at its head. 
At the close of the war Secretary of State Seward warned France 
against establishing a monarchial form of government over a 
republican state and showed his intention of enforcing the 
Monroe Doctrine (346). President Grant emphasized these 
warnings by sending General Sherman with an army to the 
Mexican border. Napoleon saw the peril of his undertaking, 
withdrew his troops, and weakly permitted Maximilian to be 
court-martialed and executed (June, 1867). 

The case with Great Britain was not so easily solved. While 
the war was in progress, there had been fitted out in her harbors 
a number of vessels designed for the use of the Confederate 
States in preying upon the commerce of the Union and other- 
wise aiding the South. Prominent among such ships was the 
Alcihama, or Two-ninety as she was commonly called. In 
addition to offences from this source Great Britain had com- 
mitted others in recognizing the belligerency of the Confederacy, 
in granting its cruisers coaling stations, and in extending sym- 
pathy in such material way as prolonged the war and therefore 
multiplied damages. Through the influence of Charles Sumner, 
chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, the 
United States demanded of Great Britain in settlement of these 
claims the exorbitant sum of $200,000,000 and the surrender 



CLOSE OF THE ERA 467 

of Guiana, Honduras, and Canada. Commissioners from the 
two nations met at Washington on May 8, 187 1, and settled 
some minor disputes about the boundary and fisheries, and 
agreed to refer the question of claims to an international tribu- 
nal, to meet at Geneva, Switzerland. This court, composed 
of representatives from Italy, Switzerland, and Brazil, besides 
Lord Cockburn from Great Britain and Charles Francis Adams 
from the United States, decided that Great Britain should pay 
$15,500,000 in settlement of the "Alabama Claims." In 1877, 
another arbitration determined that the United States should 
pay Great Britain $5,500,000 for violation of the treaty of 1818 
in regard to Canadian fisheries. 

Relations with Russia during the Civil War had been some- 575. Pur- 
what more cordial than those with France and Great Britain; ^^^^ °.* .1^ 
so it was not difficult in 1867, for Secretary Seward to conclude Buriingame 
a bargain with Russia by which $7,200,000 was paid for Alaska, '^^^^^y 
a frozen region seemingly important only for its seal fisheries. 
In after years the gold discoveries there made it worth many 
times the purchase price. 

An understanding was likewise reached with Austria, the 
German States, Belgium, France, and Great Britain, and agree- 
ments followed in regard to immigration and naturalization 
(1868). In the same year, by the "Buriingame Treaty," 
the United States promised to protect Chinese immigrants, 
who had now begun to pour into the Pacific coast region on 
account of the demand for labor in those states. These and 
other international questions growing for the most part out of 
the Civil War, gave America standing abroad, and made a 
constant appeal to the national consciousness. 

A FITTING CLOSE OF THE ERA 

While Congress and the president were restoring the Southern 576. Im- 
states to their "proper practical relation," and carrying on a p^'^^®™®°*^ 
successful diplomacy with foreign nations, the recuperative inventions 
power of the American people was manifesting itself in numer- 
ous improvements and inventions. In 1866, Cyrus W. Field 



468 



RECONSTRUCTION 



succeeded in laying the Atlantic cable, which revolutionized 
the industrial and commercial world. In 1869, the Pacific 
railroad was completed across the Rocky mountains; and the 
East was nearer the West by weeks, and another obstacle to 
a stronger Federal Union had been removed. In 1870, Congress 



■^m- 



677. The 

Centennial 
Exposition 




Completion of the Pacific Railroad 
Meeting of the locomotives of the Union and of the Central Pacific Railroads 

established the Weather Bureau, whose business it is to observe 
the weather and publish forecasts of approaching changes. 
The service of this dejiartment of the federal go\'ernmcnt has 
been greatly enlarged, and the whole people have become more 
and more convinced of its usefulness. The same period wit- 
nessed the invention of electric lighting and the telephone. 

A great number of appliances newly invented were brought 
together and exhibited in a Centennial Exposition held at 
Philadelphia just one hundred years from the natal day of the 
rq^ublic. Here was gathered the best product of the best 
thought of the nation. The Congress of the United States 
contributed .11,500,000 to the enterprise and many other nations 
joined in making the occasion one of world-wide significance. 



CLOSE OF THE ERA 469 

Between May 10 and November 10, 1876, more than ten million 
people passed through its gates. Though standing at the close 
of a long period of sectional strife, the Exposition terminated a 
century full of American achievements for all mankind. The 
national boundaries had been pushed across the Mississippi 
to the Rio Grande, and over the Rocky mountains to the 
Pacific. State governments had been set up three thousand 
miles from the national capital, and all now acknowledged an 
indissoluble union. A century and a half had been required to 
develop the spirit of union and a national consciousness, and 
still another century had been needed for determining the form 
which nationality should assume. No doubt the Union had 
been a compact, but it was so no longer. Beyond all question 
each state had at first been sovereign; but the growth of the 
principle of union had broken down partitions, and state sover- 
eignty had been laid on the altar of an enlarged patriotism. 
Not the war, nor the enforced reconstruction, had wrought 
this profound conversion; it was the result of the spirit of sym- 
pathy and love working in the hearts of men of the North and 
of the South for better things; working through Grant, the 
magnanimous, and through Tilden, the self-sacrificing; working 
with, and aiding men in their gropings after the truth; working 
through Hayes's well-known good-will to the South, to be 
exemplified by his instant abolition of bayonet rule; working 
in the schools, in the churches, in the fields and workshops, in 
the army and everywhere. Now indeed might the federation 
be said to have developed " an indestructible union of indestruct- 
ible states," in which the respective powers are essential to each 
other. The Centennial typified this great truth, since it 
brought together the East and West and the North and South, 
and directed their attention toward national achievements. It 
announced the end of domestic strife and heralded the dawn of 
a new day of social, industrial, and economical development. 
The country would no longer be "drenched in fraternal blood" 
but would be given, soul and body, to unlocking its natural 
resources and to building up national industries. 



470 RECONSTRUCTION 

SUMMARY 

In Grant's administration the work of "reconstruction" was continued. 
There were scandals affecting the national government, and a low moral 
standard obtained in regard to public office; the president's confiding dis- 
position making him the well-meaning tool in the hands of crafty politicians. 
White citizens of the South, seeing the negroes organize into the "Loyal 
League" for the purpose of furthering the ends of carpet-bag leaders, formed 
the "Ku-Klux Klan," which by intimidation had much effect in the rural 
districts of the South in restraint of excesses, and the preservation of a degree 
of order. These Vigilance Committees — self-appointed in many cases, — 
fell under the displeasure of Congress, which passed the unconstitutional 
Enforcement Act, 1870, an act to enforce the fifteenth amendment, 187 1, 
and later in the same year an act to enforce the fourteenth amendment and 
for other purposes. The effect of this act was to place elections in the South- 
ern states under the supervision of the military arm of the government. 
Meantime, natural revulsion in the North against the methods and morals 
of the party in power led to the formation of the Liberal Republicans, which, 
though defeated under Greeley, registered its strong and wholesome protest 
against political conditions. In this election the patriotic Southern voters 
sided with Greeley. Carpet-bag rule continued in the South until the 
Congressional elections of 1874, which returned a large Democratic majority. 
In the South generally, the whites regained political power, and their state 
governments were rescued from the carpet-baggers and negroes. 

In 1876, the presidential election was disputed, and an Electoral Com- 
mission created by Congress decided by a strict party vote in favor of 
Hayes, the Republican candidate, who was known, however, to favor giving 
justice to the South. In the same year the Centennial Exhibition at Phila- 
delphia, attracting citizens from all sections, and throwing them together, 
had its effect toward unification of sentiment. The evil days of negro 
domination, carpet-bag rascality, and scalawag treason were over when it 
became known that the troops would be withdrawn from the South. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What was the difference between a carpet-bagger and a scalawag? 2. Does 
military service fit for civil rule? 3. Discuss the qualifications for ruling, possessed 
by all the presidents who had been military heroes. 4. Discuss the conditions 
which brought about the Loyal League. 5. Was the Ku-Klux organization a whole- 
some movement? 6. How did Congress endeavor to defend the freedmen against 
the Ku-Klux? 7. Why did the Southern white voters in 1872 cast their ballots 
for Greeley?. 8. Are such organizations as the Ku-Klux ever justifiable? 9. Who 
won the presidential election in 1876? Give reasons for your answer. 10. What 
general influences brought about unity of sentiment between the sections? Discuss. 



Ipart IV 

DEVELOPMENT UNDER A RESTORED UNION 

CHAPTER XXVI 
NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Wright, Industrial Revolution of the U. S.; Wilson, 
Division and Reunion, The American People, vol. ii; Larned, History for Ready Ref- 
erence, vol. v; Taussig, Tarif History of the United States; Dewey, Financial His- 
tory of the United States; Cambridge Modern History, vol. vii; Stanwood, History of 
the Presidency. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iv; MacDonald, Select 
Documents . 

Illustrative Material. — Ford, The Honorable Peter Sterling; Burnet, 
Through One Administration. 

A BRIEF INVENTORY 

The years which followed the abolition of slavery and the 578. Old 

reconstruction of the bonds of union stand out in marked con- '^^"^^ s*^® 

place to new 

trast with all other eras of the country's history. For more 
than a century, American thought and feeling had been strongly 
attracted by political discussion. What was the relation be- 
tween the states and the federal government? Was the Union 
a compact? Were Congress and the president justified in 
exercising powers not specifically granted them by the Con- 
stitution? Was a national bank desirable? What interest 
would the annexation of this or that piece of territory best 
serve? Was slavery justifiable, and did the South actually 
leave the Union or only attempt to do so? These and other 
questions of a doctrinal character had been uppermost in the 
public mind and had held the attention of the statesmen for a 

471 



472 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICyVL IDEALS 

hundred years. But a long step in the interpretation of the 
Constitution had now been made, and men could give time and 
thought to the development of natural resources and the ex- 
pansion of industry; and there was brought into prominence a 
train of interests such as corporate business, transportation, 
commerce, labor and capital, immigration, inventions, public 
education, mining, scientific agriculture, monetary problems, 
tariff, conservation, and others equally practical and impor- 
tant. 

To understand the wonderful expansion that attended the 
closing years of the nineteenth century, it will be helpful to 
consider the conditions of the country at the beginning of the 
period. In the South little had been done during the recon- 
struction process toward the reestablishment of industry and 
commerce. Political and social conditions had been too ex- 
asperating and too unstable to admit economic recovery, and 
hence all the arts and crafts languished for want of security. 
Agricultural labor had received an almost fatal stroke in the 
freeing of the slaves, many of whom seemed to consider service 
inconsistent with freedom, while few of them were prepared 
for independent farming. Intellectually and morally the war 
of reconstruction had wrought temporary havoc of the worst 
kind. Approximately four million ignorant slaves, inferior in 
everything that constitutes a high civilization, had not only 
been elevated to citizenship, but had been encouraged to assume 
a large part of the civic and political responsibility of the 
South. The white population had been diminished by war and 
its attendant ravages to a number far less than the South had 
had fifteen years earlier.^ Much of her best blood had been 
spilt, her cities burned, her wealth and her industries destroyed, 
and much of her former wealth had become a burden. In 
despair, many of her citizens had emigrated. Yet there was 
still something which could not be taken away: her natural in- 
tellectual and spiritual endowment, her ability to look defeat 

' The South lost approximately 300,000 men in the Civil War and spent per- 
haps $1,500,000,000 in gold. 



A BRIEF INVENTORY 473 

squarely in the face, her native strength of intellect and of 
spirit, in a word, her character, remained unimpeached and un- 
impeachable and this was her one foundation of hope for the 
future. Already there were faint glimmerings of approaching 
day. By sheer inherent force she had now wrenched her gov- 
ernments from carpet-bag and negro rule and had placed South- 
ern white men at the helm of state. Encouragement had come, 
and industry would follow. Poor in material possessions, she 
faced the future with resolution and with promise. 

"Order and peace were quickly established everywhere, and 
the plundered and impoverished South could at last take hope 
and feel courage to make a new effort to recover some degree 
of prosperity and some measure of domestic content. For ten 
years the dark night of domination by the negro and political 
adventurer had rested upon the unhappy section, until it had 
been reduced to the very abomination of desolation. Broken 
in health and fortune, sick at heart, conscious of the terrible 
degradation which had been imposed upon them, and politically 
ostracized, the better part of the white population of the South 
had staggered and groped through the hideous experience of 
this period, and such of them as had not perished during the 
awful passage had now at last been relieved of the frightful 
scourge, and, half dazed as if recovering from a terrible night- 
mare, found themselves again in the places of power and re- 
sponsibility." (Burgess.) 

If the South had been weakened by the war, and as yet 580. The 
had been unable to recover, the West had been stimulated and ^®^* '^ 
made strong. Under the Homestead Act of 1862 settlers had 
poured into the trans-Mississippi region, had built homes, had 
opened many new industries, and had organized new terri- 
tories. The Act provided that any head of a family, after 
five years' residence upon any 160 acre tract of government 
land, might secure a title free of cost. A somewhat similar 
act was passed in 1873 by which the government granted free 
title to land on which settlers would grow a certain number 
of trees. Under these two acts nearly 40,000,000 acres were 



474 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

" homesteaded " by the close of the reconstruction period. 
Another factor in the development of this region was the build- 
ing of railroads to the Pacific. The war had developed the 
necessity for these roads and Congress had taken the initiative 
by granting certain companies very liberal charters in 1862. 
In fact, several of them were subsidized by Congress with 
grants of vast tracts of land, and loans in government bonds. 




View on the Union Pacific Railroad, Colorado 
From a photograph 

It is estimated that 100,000,000 acres were thus given to five 
of these Pacific railroads and that government loans to the 
same companies approximated $60,000,000. Under the stimu- 
lus of Congressional favor, a company^ had been formed in 
1865, called the Credit Mobilier of America, which took over 
the contract of the Union Pacific designed to link the Missouri 
river region with San Francisco. The undertaking, pushed 
with vigor, had been completed in 1869. 

Moreover, young men whom the war had left penniless, and 
soldiers without employment, turned in increasing number to 
the enchanting West, there to seek fame and fortune. Then, 

> This company is said to have given shares to Congressmen in return for their 
votes for favorable legislation. It at least illustrates the general business, if not 
moral laxness, that obtained throughout the country during this period. 



A BRIEF INVENTORY 475 

too, copper in paying quantities was discovered at Butte, 
Montana, in 1864; gold in Wyoming and Dakota, in 1874; and 
silver at Leadville, Colorado, in the centennial year, and as a 
consequence, vast caravans of covered wagons invaded the new 
and sparsely settled West. Nor was it long before the new- 
comers organized themselves politically, and established legal 
relations with the Union. Indeed, three new states had been 
created between the outbreak of the war and the close of re- 
construction — Nevada, 1864; Nebraska, 1867; and Colorado, 
1876. Besides these, Wyoming, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and 
Dakota were organized as territories. The thrifty Westerners 
will be heard from in the political and economic history of the 
closing years of the nineteenth century. 

The region that had supported the Union lost nearly 400,000 581. The 
men, and spent untold wealth, and acquired still more. The ^^^^ 
war left material conditions prospering, and during the recon- in 1876 
struction period the industries of the East and North went 
forward with great rapidity. Since the war had been fought 
on Southern soil, the farming interests of the North were really 
stronger at the close than at the beginning of the struggle. 
The tariff levied for revenue during, the war had given pro- 
tection to New England industries, which were already revelHng 
in the wealth that was being poured daily into their coffers 
and which were now wholly unwilling to be deprived of this 
advantage. Cities were springing up on all sides, commerce 
was expanding, fortunes were being gathered, and an air of 
general prosperity pervaded the entire region. In contrast 
with the social, economic, and political disorganization at the 
South, the North, during the decade immediately following 
the war, was waxing strong and rich from the bountiful hand 
of governmental favor. 

Thus it will be seen that in material condition at the opening 582. With- 
of the new industrial age there was great inequality between t^oopg from 
the different sections of the country, but it should be noted the South 
that it was such an inequality as would pass away with the 
return of normal intellectual and spiritual conditions. With 



476 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDE.\LS 

the accession of President Hayes, perceptibly begins the resto- 
ration of mental balance and a consequent process of natural 
and national development. It was pointed out in the preced- 
ing chapter that the white men of the South were coming pretty 
well into control of their state governments. The withdrawal of 
the federal troops was a fitting climax to this movement, and 
one for which President Hayes deserves the everlasting grati- 
tude of the nation. The South was now freer than she had 
ever been before to unlock her natural resources and build an 
enduring civilization after the fashion of her own ideals. Not 
only so, but the people of every section had already found 
greater profit in a good understanding than in sectional strife; 
while special classes of manufacturers and merchants were 
loudly proclaiming that the interests of business required the 
throwing olT of the artificial shackles that had hitherto bound 
their Southern patrons. It was, therefore, a new day for the 
whole nation when the president withdrew the iron hand of 
federal control and turned over Southern politics to Southern 
white men.' 

CURRENCY PROBLEMS 

A study of the national census for 1880 will reveal surprising 
developments in industry, commerce, transportation, agriculture, 
mining, and all other forms of enterprise. Reference has been 
made to the effect of the war tariff upon New England in- 
dustry. In 1876 the balance of trade was in America's favor, 
and exports have exceeded imports almost continuously since 
that time. The number of manufacturing establishments in- 
creased enormously during the decade ending in 1S80. More- 
over, diversification of industry went on apace, particularly in 

» It is true that the president did not yet abolish federal supervision of the na- 
tional elections in the South, but the Democratic majority in the House of Repre- 
sentatives practically accomplished this end by attaching a "rider" to the Army 
Appropriation Bill providing for the abolition of national election machinery. The 
contest over this amendment resulted in a compromise which removed the offensive 
presence and use of troops by United States marshals at the polls. The practice of 
attaching "riders " was abolished a few years later by a change in the rules of the 
House. 



CURRENCY PROBLEMS 



477 



the North and East. The result was a total increase in pro- 
duction of some 75 per cent for the decade. The wheat and 
corn-fields of the new West and Northwest were teeming with 
prolific yields and sending a surplus to foreign ports. The 
newly-settled Dakota produced 3,000,000 bushels of wheat, and 



1810 








The Westward Movement of Population 

drouth-stricken Kansas, 100,000,000 bushels of corn. Wyo- 
ming, Colorado, and Nevada poured their treasure of gold, silver, 
lead, and other minerals into the lap of the nation and added 
multiplied thousands to the population. Bank deposits broke 
all previous records and the national wealth reached what was 
then the enormous figure of $43,000,000,000. Villages of 1870 
became cities in 1S80; pojjulation passed the 50,000,000 mark, 



and capital 



478 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

an increase for the decade of more than 30 per cent. The rail- 
roads of the Atlantic coast region raced with one another in 
building to the West, from which they brought to market the 
product of grain-field and mine, and to which they carried back 
whole colonies of German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and 
other immigrants. During the decade, the railroad mileage in- 
creased as much as 65 per cent, the development bringing with 
it the process of railway consolidation — the Hudson River, 
Lake Shore, and New York Central lines passing under one 
management. The effect was seen in the exorbitant and dis- 
criminating freight rates which these roads now established. 
584. Labor The new industrial and economic conditions must inevitably 
make themselves felt in pohtical and governmental affairs. 
Indeed, signs of such influence had been evident enough be- 
fore the new era was well inaugurated. The Liberal Re- 
publicans of 1872 had exhibited a will to ignore sectional 
disputes and consider questions beyond the domain of con- 
temporary politics; such, for example, as civil service reform. 
The Labor Reform party of the same year grew out of social 
and economic questions instead of the customary political and 
constitutional questions. It was more interested in the rela- 
tion of labor and capital than in the process of reconstruction. 
It felt that the danger to negro freedom in the South was less 
threatening than was the control of the national finances by 
the banks of the East. To the great working class there could 
be no question so important as the national control of railways, 
telegraph and telephone lines, the equitable and careful disposi- 
tion of public lands, the regulation of hours of labor, an eco- 
nomic system that would meet the expanding needs of business, 
and a train of similar questions in which men from Maine to 
Texas were vitally interested. The panic of 1873 was due to 
this new industrialism that was just now beginning to pervade 
the country no less than to the over-speculative spirit that 
accompanied it. The Greenback party (570) of 1S76 was an 
expression of the same movement, for it demanded a currency 
based upon the national promise to pay, rather than upon gold 



CURRENCY PROBLEMS ' 479 

and silver — a plain evidence that the monetary system was 
having difficulty in meeting the demands of the new business 
age. Between 1872 and 1875 the secret order of Grangers, 
or Patrons of Industry, having for its primary purpose the pro- 
motion of farming interests, was organized, to be followed in 
the later seventies by the Farmers' Alliance, which entered 
more purposefully the field of politics with the consideration of 
such questions as transportation, currency, banking, monopoly, 
governmental favor to the capitalistic class through the pro- 
tective tariff, and railway subsidies. 

Prophetic of the new questions which should soon give 585. 
direction to politics, numerous and extensive strikes occurred ^*"'^®^ 
in 1877 throughout the North and East, especially among the 
employees of the railways and the mines of New York and 
Pennsylvania. So serious did the situation become that 
United States troops in conjunction with state miUtia were 
required to suppress riots and restore order. Organized labor 
was clearly upon the field and had come as a permanent part 
of our social and economic life. 

These conditions gave rise to the only seriously important 586. The 
national measures of Hayes's administration, the Bland-Allison ^'^^®^ ^"®^" 
silver act and the resumption of specie payments. Gold and 
silver had been the legal currency of the country from the very 
beginning of the national history. As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, before the Civil War gold had been used almost ex- 
clusively, for it seemed to meet the needs of business without 
the assistance of silver. Silver had, therefore, by the middle 
of the century, found its chief use in the work-shops of artisans 
and jewelers. In 1853, gold became the single standard of 
value by act of Congress, and the silver dollar passed entirely 
out of circulation. The new stress put upon the government 
by the war led it temporarily to issue (1862) irredeemable 
United States treasury notes as legal tenders in the payment 
of debts. The banks now suspended specie payment and the 
country was at once upon a paper basis. Multiplied millions 
of paper currency flooded the land, soon depreciating in value 



48o NEW INDUSTRI.\L AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

and correspondingly inflating prices. But the unprecedented 
demands of the war for the products of the country largely 
counteracted the evil effects of the suspension of specie pay- 
ment and the issue of treasury notes. In 1873, Congress, 
simply recognizing the status of silver, passed an act forbidding 
the coinage of the silver dollar.^ 

Almost at the same moment great deposits of silver were 
unearthed in the now rapidly developing West.^ The price of 
silver necessarily fell, and the mine owners contended that 
the act of 1873 was responsible for the decUne. Moreover, 
just at this time, money was in great demand on account of 
the unexampled development of farms and the building of rail- 
roads in the West and South. Money became "stringent" for 
the farmers, yet the great bankers of the East, who controlled 
the gold supply, found ways for financing the railroads. Some 
agitation had already taken place over the constitutionality 
of the treasury notes, and the moneyed interests had already 
shown their opposition to an irredeemable paper currency. 
Might they not also be responsible for the "crime of '73" and 
consequently be leagued against the "people's money"? The 
doubt led the farmers of the West and South to ally themselves 
with the mining interests in a demand for the repeal of the law 
of 1873 and a resumption of silver coinage. 

Accordingly, Congressman Richard P. Bland of Missouri 
introduced in the House a measure which provided for the free 
and unlimited coinage of silver at approximately the ratio of 
16 to I, or in other words provided that standard silver dollars 
of 41 2 1 grains should be exchanged at the mints for silver 
bullion. Senator Allison of Iowa offered a substitute bill, author- 
izing the treasurer of the United States to expend a minimum 
of $2,000,000 and a maximum of $4,000,000 monthly for the 
purchase of silver bullion with which to make silver dollars. 
The Democratic House as well as the Republican Senate ac- 

* This act is popularly called the "demonetization of silver" and the "crime 
of 1873." 

"^ The total silver production of the United States rose from $1,000,000 in 1861 
to $30,000,000 in 1875. 



CURRENCY PROBLEMS 



481 



cepted the substitute and passed the measure. The president 
vetoed it and straightway it was passed over his veto. (Feb- 
ruary 28, 1878.) 

In the meantime, under the same pressure of expanding in- 588. Re- 
dustry that brought about the Bland-AlHson Act, there arose a g"™?"°^ °J 
demand also for an increase in the issue of paper currency, ments 
The Labor Reform party, and then the Greenback party, had 
demanded "a purely national circulating medium, based on 
the faith and resources of the nation, and issued directly to the 




The United States Mint at Phil.\delphia 



people without the intervention of any system of banking 
corporations." But it had been the policy of the government 
for some time to "retire" the "greenbacks" which had been 
issued during the Civil War to the amount of $450,000,000, and 
$100,000,000 worth of them had been thus disposed of. Con- 
sequently Congress turned a deaf ear to the demands of the 
farmers who were now clamoring for more greenbacks. In 
1875, a law had been enacted providing for the resumption of 
specie payments on and after January i, 1879. When the day 
came a great amount of gold had been brought into the United 
States treasury through the sale of bonds, and the financial 
situation was so secure that few people cared to exchange their 
greenbacks for heavy specie, and the paper notes remained 



482 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

in circulation.^ Thus the demand for withdrawing and can- 
celling the greenbacks passed away, and at the same time 
treasury notes (greenbacks) were placed on a par with gold and 
silver.'- But the currency controversy was to be revived at a 
later day. 

THE CIVIL SERVICE 

589. Eiec- The presidential election was now approaching and both 
1880° parties were beginning to cast about for available candidates. 

Hayes had rendered himself unpopular with the "machine" of 
his party when he withdrew the troops from the South. He 
had been handicapped during a part of his administration by a 
Democratic House, and even the Republican Senate had not 
always been tractable. He had got into ofl&ce against the 
votes of a popular majority, if not an electoral majority. He 
would no more listen to party leaders in his appointments to 
office than in his policy toward the South, and thus he arrayed 
against himself a faction of the Republican party. These 
"stalwarts" as they called themselves, under the leadership 
of Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, turned to General 
Grant, who had just completed a tour around the world, and 
who was received with great demonstrations of popularity in 
many cities of the North. The Republican ship had had 
smooth sailing under Grant's nominal piloting while president, 
and yet had carried the party far among the breakers of political 

' John Sherman, secretary of the treasury under Hayes, writes as follows of this 
incident: "The resumption of specie payments was generally accepted as a 
fortunate event by the great body of the people of the United States, but there 
was a great diversity of opinion as to what was meant by resumption. The com- 
mercial and banking classes generally treated resumption as if it involved the 
payment and cancellation of United States notes and all forms of government 
money except coin and bank notes. Another class was opposed to resumption, 
and favored a large issue of paper money without any promise or expectation of 
redemption in coin. The body of the people, I believe, agreed with me in the 
opinion that resumption meant, not the cancellation and withdrawal of greenbacks, 
but the bringing them up to par and maintaining them as the equivalent of coin by 
the payment of them in coin on demand by the holder." 

' In 1876, fractional currency, popularly called "shin-plasters," was supplanted 
with silver dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. 



THE CIVIL SERVICE 



483 




and governmental dishonesty.^ The "stalwarts" placed Grant 
in nomination ; John Sherman and J. G. Blaine also were stren- 
uously urged; and the result was a compromise. James A. 
Garfield of Ohio,^ who for many ballots received but one vote 
in the convention, was nominated 
for the presidency, and Chester 
A. Arthur of New York, a "stal- 
wart," for the vice-presidency. 
The Democrats chose Winfield S. 
Hancock because of his reputation 
as a soldier, and William H. Eng- 
lish, a fine type of the new busi- 
ness man, for vice-president. 
Seemingly such a combination 
should have won and, indeed, be- 
sides the Southern states, the Dem- 
ocrats carried California, Nevada, 
and New Jersey, and lost the pop- 
ular vote by only nine thousand 
out of a total of nine million. In the electoral college Garfield 
and Arthur won by 214 to 155. Moreover, the Democrats lost 
both the House and Senate, and it remained to be seen again 
what the Republicans would do when they controlled both the 
legislative and executive branches of the government. 

The election had been singularly void of serious national 

' Grant himself had no intention to be dishonest, or to permit dishonesty in the 
administration of the government, but pubHc morality was so low during those 
days when passion ruled men's minds that stories of fraud are written shamefully 
often in the history of the period. Besides the corrupt carpet-bag and negro 
domination at the South, there were political "rings" and "bosses" whose 
conscienceless methods have never been equalled in our national history. " Boss " 
Tweed of New York was imprisoned for robbing the city of miUions of dollars; 
Secretary of War Belknap barely escaped impeachment by resigning, and the 
president's private secretary, Babcock, was involved in frauds growing out of the 
handling of the internal revenue tax. 

2 Garfield was a Western man in spirit. He had been president of a college in 
Ohio, a member of the state senate, had won laurels with General Thomas at 
Chickamauga, had been a member of the lower House, and was United States 
senator when elected president. 



James A. Garfield 



484 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

issues, yet in one respect it meant much to the whole country. 

For the first time since the Civil War all the states of the Union 

had participated in the election, free from the interference of 

national troops, and strangely enough, every state south of 

Mason and Dixon's line voted for a Northern war hero for the 

presidency. There was no doubt that the South was "solid." 

590. The Scarcely were the election results known when the pre- 

Garfield convention factional spirit made itself manifest again. Conk- 
admimstra- '■ r /-. i 1 

tion; firm- ling, the "stalwart" leader, at the urgent request of Grant, had 

ness of the gjyen active support to Garfield in the campaign, and expected 
in return some recognition of the "machine" in the distribution 
of federal patronage. Like Hayes, Garfield held a lofty con- 
ception of his responsibilities in such matters, and therefore 
all but ignored the claims of the "stalwarts." He made Blaine 
secretary of state, an appointment as distasteful to the machine 
politicians as could have been made. He turned a deaf ear to 
all the horde of hungry office-seekers who besieged him; and 
was considered by Conkling and his associates guilty of base 
ingratitude. Finally, after giving New York scant recognition, 
he ignored the endorsements of Conkling and his associate, 
Senator Piatt, in filling the post of revenue collector for the 
port of New York. This was the straw that broke the camel's 
back. The two New York senators resigned their seats in 
Congress and appealed to the state legislature for vindication.^ 

691. Death Partisan and factional politics now became so bitter that 

Arthur ^^'*^' ^^^^ost any outrage might have been heard of without surprise. 

president The cHmax was reached when, on July 2, 1881, while leaving 
Washington on a brief vacation, the president was shot by a 
man named Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker and fanatic 
who avowedly intended to make room for the "stalwart" vice- 
president. Garfield died on September 19th, and on the 20th 
Mr. Arthur took the oath of office as president. 

The tragedy had one salutary effect. The country awoke 

' Neither of these men was reelected. Conkling retired to private life, while 
Piatt reentered the Senate in 1897 and remained until succeeded in igog by Ehhu 
Root. 



THE CIVIL SERVICE 



485 



as never before to the evils arising out of the administration of 592. The 
the civil service. Public offices had been used too frequently nation's 

COQSCicilCG 

in payment of political debts. The highest officials had not stirred 
always scrupled to traffic in public appointments. PubUc office 
in many an instance was a sinecure, and he got it who could, by 
fair or foul means. The main thing was to get it. The "liberal 
use of soap," to quote Arthur himself, brought many "fat" 
jobs. The assassin's shot awoke the conscience of the nation 
and made itself heard even in the legislative halls. 

Public opinion had already demanded that Congress enact 593. Civil 
measures which would require the appointing power to consider Service 
an applicant's merits rather than 
his party affiliation; and in fact, 
a law had been passed in 1871 
providing for the appointment of 
a commission to regulate such 
matters, but the federal patronage 
had proved too tempting to the 
greedy self-seekers of Grant's ad- 
ministration, and so the civil ser- 
vice commission had lapsed 
through a lack of funds for sus- 
tenance. President Hayes had 
been in sympathy with it but with- 
out congressional support could ac- 
complish little. Outside of Con- 
gress, however, the sentiment had gained much force and had 
expressed itself in the organization of the National Civil Ser- 
vice League of 1880. 

The iron was now hot and the League decided to strike. 594. The 
Through the Democratic Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio, Pf°dleton 

61II 

the League secured the passage of a measure by which a system 
of competitive examinations was made to apply to a large 
number of federal offices, and the commission of 1871 was 
restored. It forbade the assessment of clerks for the campaigns 
of their chiefs, and gave the president power to extend the 




Chester A. Arthur 



486 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

system. It did not place all appointive offices upon the "merit " 
plan, but it gave strong emphasis to brains and character when 
"pulls" and "soap" were all too common. President Arthur 
was in hearty accord with the measure and gave it rather 
efficient enforcement. Perhaps 15,000 postoffice and customs 
officials were affected by the law, and the business of the govern- 
ment was put upon a more dignified and honorable basis. Civil 
service reform has gone forward at intervals in all the succeed- 
ing years and promises to reach a high level of efficiency. 

ECONOINIIC CONDITIONS REFLECTED IN POLITICS 

595. The There was no other very important national legislation during 
prosperous Arthur's administration, but it must not be supposed that it 
West; the was a fruitless period. New issues were in the making. Forces 
corporations ^gj-g ^^ work that were destined to affect profoundly every 
phase of the nation's life. Industry and commerce were ex- 
panding so rapidly that many questions in their train were being 
piled up for future solution. The South in particular was 
prosperous. Clark Howell, writing in the Century Magazine, 
April, 1913, says: "Students of the South are almost unani- 
mous in agreeing that the fortunes of the section turned de- 
cisively in 1880. The deadening effect of the war, and the 
pessimism that followed it, were beginning to be outlived. The 
panic of '73 had been weathered with remarkable success, con- 
sidering the handicap. . . Throughout the section a feeling of 
buoyancy became manifest, inspiring every element to new 
effort, and drawing the attention of Northern and foreign 
capital to the opportunities south of Mason and Dixon's line." 
The West was growing in like manner, and in the North and 
East the capitalistic element was combining into great cor- 
porations for the promotion of industrial interests, or for the 
more profitable development of transportation facilities. Again 
the country's attention was turned away from politics as such, 
to the seemingly more \ital problems of economics and industry. 
Adversity threatened, it is true, in 1881, but only a few heeded 
it, and soon it was gone. Yet the economic conditions, pressing 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND POLITICS 487 

forward new issues, were bound to be reflected in politics and 
government. 

In 1S82 the Democrats won control of the House and elected 596. Efforts 
several state tickets. The presidential election was only two the'^^Re "b 
years away and the Republican party had not been welded by Ucan party 
Arthur's administration. On the other hand, it had aroused 
the resentment of many people by its radicalism in the process 
of reconstruction; it had plundered the public treasury during 
Grant's administration, and the people knew it; many of its 
leaders had been involved in land and railway scandals; the 
high tariff, which it had levied during the Civil War and had 
now in Arthur's administration refused to revise materially,^ 
was accumulating a surplus of money which proved too tempting 
to the party in power. These and other similar conditions led 
a number of the more honorable members of the party to 
attempt to reform it as the Liberal Republicans had done 
in 1872 (569). But James G. Blaine, formerly candidate for 
the presidential nomination in 1876 and 1880, had charge of the 
"machine," and manipulated it with precision. He and his 
associates opprobriously dubbed the reformers ''Mugwumps" 
or "Big Chiefs," attempting in this way to discredit them with 
the rank and file of the party. The "steam-roller" worked 
beautifully at the convention and the reformers revolted and 
urged the Democrats to nominate Grover Cleveland of New 
York for the presidency. 

Blaine himself was nominated by the Republicans over both 597. The 
President Arthur and Senator Edmunds of Vermont. He was nom"nee^" 
a man of strong personality and positive convictions, and hence 
had the strongest of friends as well as the bitterest of enemies. 
He had been in public life a long time as member of Congress, 
speaker of the House, secretary of state, and twice as candidate 
for president. He was brilliant on the stump, wary in methods, 
and bitter toward his enemies; and he believed in maintaining 

1 A commission was appointed in 1S82 for the purpose of investigating the needs 
of the country on the tariff question. This commission made its report, upon which 
a tariff act was passed, but it only shifted the incidence without Hghtening the 
burden of taxation. 



Democratic 
nominee 



488 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

his party in power at any cost. His ability as a party leader was 
well known and his power was feared by his opponents. But 
the shadow of suspicion lay across his path. While speaker of 
the House, he had become the director and master of party 
policy, and had used his power and prestige to promote personal 
interests. There were those in his party who believed that he 
had received favors from some of the great railway and mining 
corporations, and that he was therefore under obligations to 
those very interests which the farmers of the West and South 
most hated. Whether the suspicion was well founded or not it 
left its taint, and led many conscientious Republicans to support 
the Democratic candidate. 
698. The Grover Cleveland, whom the Democrats nominated much to 

the pleasure of the "Mugwumps," was in many ways a strik- 
ing contrast to the Republican nominee. Instead of a long 
career of brilliant leadership, he had risen very gradually from 
humble beginnings. The son of a Presbyterian minister, he had 
early manifested the strong principles of a forceful character. 
He had been reared in western New York, and had served in 
what his hand had found to do, first as a clerk in a country store, 
then as a teacher, and later as assistant in a law office. He 
became district attorney for Buffalo at the age of twenty-six, 
and sheriff of Erie county a few years later. In 1S81 he was 
elected mayor of Buffalo, and the next year governor of New 
York by the handsome plurality of 192,000. All the way up the 
line he displayed remarkable poise and stamina. Cool, honest, 
fearless, he had boldly upheld the right as he saw it and wherever 
he met it. He was young and strong and free of the taint of 
doubtful associations. He was without legislative experience; 
indeed, he had not handled any of the machinery of the national 
government. In his lofty conception of public office, in his 
forgetfulness of by-gone issues, in his appreciation of the many 
complex and practical questions of the new industrialism, in 
honesty of purpose, and in rugged strength of character, he typi- 
fied the man of the new day. For these reasons the "Mug- 
wumps" gave him their support and made him president. The 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND POLITICS 489 




campaign turned on personalities. The Republican candidate 
attempted to drag the ghost of the Civil War before the country 
again as he had done in the campaign of 1880. Now, as then, it 
worried him greatly because there were "four and a half millions 
of negroes in the South who don't 
have anything more to do with 
the government of the United 
States than they do with the gov- 
ernment of Great Britain; en- 
dowed with American citizenship, 
and yet as capable of exercising 
the right of franchise as if they 
were in the moon." But "the 
bloody shirt" had lost its rallying 
power. He could find no comfort 
in Cleveland's ofiicial record, and 
so turned with his associates to 
the slime of personal criticism. 
The Democrats came back with 

the charge of fraud and complicity in railway and land scan- 
dals, and descended to littleness in attempting to injure Blaine 
by publishing that his mother was a Roman Catholic. 

The ballots were very close. New York was the pivotal state, 599. Eiec- 
where Cleveland finally led by a majority of 1149 votes out of a **°° ^ ^ 
total of more than a million. The national vote stood 4,874,986 
for Cleveland to 4,851,891 for Blaine, while the electoral college 
gave Cleveland 219 and Blaine 182 votes. It was the first 
victory of the Democratic party since 1856, though it had 
enjoyed a majority in the Senate once and in the House four 
times since that date. It was even now handicapped by a 
Republican Senate. Perhaps the most significant thing about 
the election, however, is best indicated in a letter by Ebenezer 
Hannaford to The Nation, November 20, 18S4. In part, it reads 
as follows: "Among the many 'lessons of the election' is not 
this an obvious one, that the American people are ready to 
smooth out and iron down 'the bloody shirt,' do it up with care 



Grover Cleveland 



490 NEW INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL IDEALS 

and camphor, and put it away in the back closet of party politics? 
Not that the nation's heart for one moment throbs less true to 
the Union or the cause of universal freedom than it did twelve, 
sixteen or twenty years ago, but simply that the plain practical 
men who make up . . . the great mass of our voters, have 
come to regard the settlement of the war issues as safe beyond 
the possibility of undoing; and, further, to require of political 
parties that their aspirations and endeavors 'fall in' with the 
soul of Capt. John Brown, and keep marching on. . . With 
all their hearts they [Independent Republicans] believe in 
progress, in movement straightforward, that is, and not round 
and round in a circle like the wheelings of a hunted ostrich, or 
the wanderings of some lost wretch in a snowstorm. They have 
their convictions, and the 'courage of them,' too. Nobody 
crusades more vigorously than they. But it is against the living 
hordes of despoiling infidels that they demand to be led, not 
against those elder evaporated infidels, the mummies of the 
Pharaohs. . . The influential and steadily increasing class of 
voters in question can never be rallied around the ghost of a 
dead past. They will, as heretofore, fight in the front rank, but 
they will insist on being placed face to face with existing verities, 
real issues, living questions. . . They are too old birds, these 
Independents, to be caught with chaff from a thrice beaten sheaf, 
or frightened by a scarecrow rigged out in their own discarded 
feathers." Cleveland's election was a proof not only that the 
country was interested in the newer economics and industrial 
problems, but that it was also demanding that statesmen and 
political parties should turn their attention to the solution of 
living questions instead of wasting their labor and soiling their 
hands with worn-out issues. 

SUMMARY 

As the era of reconstruction drew to a close, business interests sprang 
up to take the place of sectional issues. The nation definitely committed 
itself to a policy of industrial development hitherto unequalled in the history 
of the world. Men began to give all their thought and energy to the making 
of money and the result was the accumulation of fortunes and the develop- 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND POLITICS 491 

ment of new industries. Day in and day out the question which every man 
thought most about was, will it pay? Naturally, therefore, legislation and 
all questions of national interest were settled in terms of business interests. 
In other words, in the public mind no question was settled right until it was 
settled favorably to business. East, West, North, and South were developing 
their material resources with a wonderful rapidity that overtaxed the cur- 
rency system of the nation, brought on, in part at least, the panic of '73, 
and expressed itself in strikes, new social and political organizations, and an 
attempt to revise the national monetary system. 

Parallel with this industrial expansion arose a higher conception of the 
duties and functions of political office. The opposition to this new under- 
current expressed itself in the defeat of Hayes for renomination, in the 
organization of the "stalwart" wing of the Republican party, and in the 
assassination of President Garfield. The new movement made itself felt 
in national politics when the civil service was overhauled, when the Pendle- 
ton Bill was passed, and when the "Mugwumps" bolted the Republican 
"machine" and helped the Democrats elect Grover Cleveland president. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. About what did the American people begin to think most after the issues of 
the Civil War began to pass? About what is the everyday thought of the people 
of this country now? 2. What was the condition of the South in 1876? What 
was the basis upon which she might build with hope in the future? 3. What 
factors contributed to the growth of the West in the seventies? 4. What effect did 
the West have in turning men's minds away from the passions and prejudices of the 
Civil War and Reconstruction? 5. What was the effect of the war upon the material 
development of the North? 6. What significance do you see in the withdrawal of 
the troops from the South by President Hayes? 7. Show the relation of expanding 
industry to the panic of 1S73. 8. Why were the Greenback party and Farmer's 
Alliance formed in the decade ending in 18S0? 9. What historical significance is 
to be found in the strikes of the same decade? 10. Was the demonetization of 
silver responsible for the hard times of 1873? 11. Why did the price of silver fall 
about this time? 12. How was the Bland-Allison Act (1878) an expression of the 
new industrialism? 13. What gives to paper money its value? 14. What was 
John Sherman's meaning of Resumption? 15. Why was President Hayes not 
renominated for a second term? 16. What was the principle to which President 
Garfield sacrificed his life? 17. What new forces were gathering strength during 
Arthur's administration? 18. What significance should be attached to the "Mug- 
wump" movement? 19. How do you account for Cleveland's election in 1884? 



CHAPTER XXVII 
GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United Stales; 
Wilson, Division and Reunion, American People, vol. v; Dewey, National Problems; 
Jenks, The Trust Problem; Cambridge Modern History, vol. vii; Larned, History for 
Ready Reference, vol. v; Taussig, Tariff History; Ely, Monopolies and Trusts. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iv; MacDonald, Select Statutes 
of the United States, i86i-i8g8; American History Leaflets, No. 6. 

Illustrative Material. — Ford, The Honorable Peter Sterling; Riis, How the 
Other Half Lives, Children of the Poor; Wister, The Virginian. 

PUBLIC OFFICE A PUBLIC TRUST 

600. False If the election of 1876 had been prophetic of a new day, the 
rebuked flection of 1884 announced its dawn. Unscrupulous politicians 

had viciously predicted in the campaign that if Cleveland 
should be elected the negroes would be reduced to slavery and 
that the Confederate debt would be assumed; and doubtless 
the effect of the insolent negation of a people's intelligence was 
similar to that of the far-famed political boomerang. The 
voters elected to rebuke the ghouls who would even falsely 
pretend to disturb a dead past, and voted in accordance with 
the demands of a living present. Moreover, the man whom 
they elected, felt deep down in his heart the conviction that 
"public office is a pubUc trust," believed in the dignity and 
importance of the executive office, and was determined to use 
it in the interests of the people. 

601. Cleve- That new considerations were to govern henceforth was evi- 
iTre^udiced ^^^^''^ ^^°''" ^^^ beginning of Cleveland's administration. The 
appoint- election of 1884 had given the Democrats a majority in the 

House, but the Republicans had retained control of the Senate. 
After such a long period of humiliation the Democrats naturally 

492 



ments to 
oflBce 



PUBLIC OFFICE A PUBLIC TRUST 493 

felt that the Republicans should be immediately dropped from 
the national pay-roll. If their hopes and expectations had 
been questioned, they no doubt would have justified themselves 
by the fact that the opposing party, while enjoying exclusive 
and unrestrained control of all federal emoluments for twenty- 
five years, had never failed to make the most of its opportunity. 
Moreover, the Liberal Republicans, who had urged the nomina- 
tion of Cleveland by the Democrats and who had really made 
possible his election, felt that they should not be ignored in the 
rearrangements that would follow a change of administration. 
This they had hoped for the more because in the campaign 
Cleveland had virtually pledged himself to an extension of the 
civil service. They were doomed to disappointment; not be- 
cause the president did not mean to keep his pledge, but rather 
because he knew better than they how an efficient and perma- 
nent reform could be worked out. In making up his appoint- 
ments, therefore, he did not hesitate to ask for the resignation 
of Republicans who might use their offices to thwart the pur- 
poses of the administration or to promote the interests of their 
own party. He felt no inconsistency in filling with Democrats 
ofiices that had automatically become vacant through a change 
of administration, and he believed that he could greatly heal the 
wound of sectionalism by disregarding the Mason and Dixon line 
in the selection of a cabinet and in filling ambassadorial posts. He 
accordingly chose three cabinet officials from the South, ^ gave 
a number of consulships to "rebels," and removed hundreds 
of politically offensive postmasters. Naturally this procedure 
brought upon him the wrath of the Mugwumps, not to mention 
the machine of the Republican party. These differences over the 
distribution of patronage were aggravated by others perhaps 
more fundamental. 

Two conditions had arisen out of the Civil War which to- 602. The 

gether had fastened upon the country a most iniquitous custom ^"■'p'."^' 
° _ ' •' ^ _ pensions; 

— a full national treasury and a ponderous Republican ma- tenure-of- 

office act 

I L. Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi, secretary of the interior; Thomas F. Bayard of repealed 
Delaware, secretary of state; and William H. Garland of Arkansas, attorney general. 



494 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 

jority in Congress. It was all but inevitable, therefore, that 
the people's money should be used for partisan purposes, while 
it was almost equally sure that the pension system would 
become the medium of plunder.^ Millions were poured into 
the laps of federal ex-soldiers without serious investigation of 
merits. All this was contrary to Cleveland's sense of public 
honesty and led him to exercise a restraining hand. Republi- 
cans and Democrats alike chafed under this pressure and made 
up their minds to retaliate. 

They found opportunity when the president removed from 
office one Dustin, a district attorney of Alabama. Seeking 
cover under the Tenure-of-office Act (561), which had been con- 
veniently forgotten since the impeachment of Johnson, the 
Senate refused to ratify the president's action. He in turn 
asserted in no unmistakable terms his constitutional right as 
executive to remove such officials, and exhibited a dogged 
determination to put aside every consideration that inter- 
fered with a "government for the people." There could be no 
decent questioning of such a position, yet it provoked a bitter 
controversy in the Senate. In the end, however, not only 
was the president sustained, but the Tenure-of-office Act was 
repealed (December 17, 1886). Congressional leaders had 
learned that there was understanding, conscience, and back- 
bone in the executive chair; nor has that department of the 
government greatly suffered for want of personal power since 
that time. 
603. Presi- Contributing to the same result and exhibiting to a degree 

dentiai Sue- |.j^g ability of Congress to deal with questions outside the 

cession A.ct* 

provision ' realm of partisan politics, was the Presidential Succession Act 

for settling q{ ^]^g same year (1886). Some anxiety over the order of suc- 

putes cession to the presidency had been experienced in President 

Arthur's administration and had twice expressed itself in a 

Senate bill which sought to amend the law. An unexpected 

situation forced the question upon the attention of Congress 

1 Strangely enough, the farther we get away from the Civil War the larger 
grows the pension bill. In 1912 it reached the extravagant sum of $229,000,000. 



LABOR AND COMMERCE 



495 



in 1885. Under the law at that time, in case of the death or 
disability of both the president and vice-president, the suc- 
cession passed to the president pro tempore of the Senate and 
then to the speaker of the House. The Senate had elected 
John Sherman, a Republican, president pro tempore; and Vice- 
President Hendricks died; thus the Democratic control of the 
executive department of the government might be lost, only 
the life of President Cleveland standing against such a con- 
tingency. Furthermore, if Cleveland should die while Con- 
gress was not sitting there would be no legal succession. 

The Presidential Succession Act provides "that in case of 
removal, death, resignation, or inabihty of both the President 
and Vice-President of the United States" the cabinet officers 
shall succeed in the order of their creation, beginning with the 
secretary of state. 

Another vexing problem which was settled in this adminis- 
tration, and the settlement of which was evidence of a more 
dispassionate consideration of public questions, was the method 
of counting the votes of the electoral college. Thoughtful men 
had wanted to preclude the possible recurrence of crises like 
that of 1876 (571), but could not overcome the passion en- 
gendered by that contest. By an act of February 3, 1887, it 
was provided that thereafter the settlement of such disputes 
should be left in the hands of the state involved. Congress 
acting as final arbiter only when such state should fail to reach 
a decision. 

LABOR AND COMMERCE 

But, after all, these were minor questions compared with 604. De- 
those that grew out of expanding industry and commerce. j™f° J^^ 
The building of the railroads to the West (580) had not only undesirable 
increased the number of stars on the national flag ^ and poured |™™'sra- 



' North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Montana were admitted to the 
Union as states in 1889, while Idaho and Wyoming came in in 1899. Utah was not 
admitted at this time because of her practice of polygamy. She finally outlawed it 
and was admitted as a state in 1896, under a constitutional guaranty that polygamy 
should forever be prohibited. 



496 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 



untold wealth into the lap of the nation, but it had also 
brought with it a train of problems concerning immigration, 
transportation, etc., that have puzzled the brains of the best 
statesmen from that day forward. The increased demands for 
labor incident to the rapid development of all parts of the 
country had brought into the mines, the factories, and the 
railway organizations great numbers of foreigners from almost 
every country in the world. As a rule these were not of the 




IRISH SWEDE GERMAN ITALIAN RUSSL\N CHINAMAN 

Typical Immigrants 

good class of people who were at the same time unlocking the 
agricultural resources of the West and Northwest. Inferior in 
intelligence and in ideals of life, they were almost wholly in- 
capable of understanding American institutions. They had 
lived in their native homes under the most abject economic 
conditions and therefore had learned to live, as it were, on the 
crumbs from the rich man's table. Many of them had heard 
of liberty but knew so little of its meaning that to them it was 
a sort of talisman. They imagined that any form of govern- 
ment that bore the name of democracy offered coveted oppor- 
tunity for license. They could not understand that free 
government is but the corollary of enlightened mind — a result 
rather than a cause. They had caught no vision 'of the better 
self; had felt no inspiring force lifting them upward. Their 
physical cravings obscured from their own eyes their spiritual 



LABOR AND COMMERCE 497 

needs. The task of assimilating into the national life the 
sturdy and thrifty German and Scandinavian farmers of the 
West and North was an easy and wholly promising process. 
The Irish and English who came into the New England and 
Middle Atlantic regions were equally easy of absorption. The 
case was different with the immigrants from southern and 
southeastern Europe and from China. It was inevitable from 
the beginning that races so vastly different in character should 
find difficulty in working together in peace. The Caucasian 
laborers of the Pacific coast soon learned that it was impossible 
to compete with the "heathen Chinee." Living on a higher 
plane, the Americans required a better return for their labor 
and hence were soon out of employment. When their demands 
for remedial legislation went unheeded they resorted to vio- 
lence. Riots became common, especially in San Francisco, and 
hfe and property suffered immensely. In 1879 Congress had 
passed a Chinese exclusion bill, but President Hayes vetoed it 
through fear of retaliation. The next year a treaty was made 
with China by which the right to regulate Chinese immigration 
was conceded to Congress. In 1S82 President Arthur vetoed 
a second bill excluding Chinese immigrants for twenty years. 
Other regulatory measures followed until, in 1S88, the question 
of Chinese immigration was permanently settled by prescrib- 
ing rather stringent conditions upon which inhabitants of that 
country may enter the United States. Succeeding measures 
have sought to strengthen this act and to define the relation to 
the government of those who are already inhabitants of the 
country. 

One phase of the labor question was thus settled, and at the 605. Anar- 
same time a part of the race question. But there were enough *^^'^*^ 
of such problems ahead. More dangerous than the Chinaman 
was the anarchistic foreign element now found in the great cities. 
Being wholly out of sympathy with American ideals and institu- 
tions, and many of them destitute of this world's goods, they 
would form themselves into secret revolutionary bodies and 
preach their doctrines of anarchy and riot. Extreme danger 



498 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 



became apparent in May, 1886, when they carried through a 
campaign of incendiarism, treason, and murder, kilHng seven 
poUcemen in the Haymarket at Chicago, by the explosion of a 
dynamite bomb. Four of them were convicted and executed, 
but the danger was not permanently averted. The unassimi- 
lated and seemingly unassimilative foreign element distresses 
the country with one of its most serious present day problems, 
more portentous by far than the negro question. 



606. The 
unions; 
strikes; 
Bureau of 
Labor — 
1884 



LABOR AND CAPITAL 

Other serious labor problems arising out of a new industrial 
system have found a more prominent, if not a more important, 
place in the national life. Happily, however, they are American 
problems and are approached by opposing parties with equal 
intelligence and patriotism. Broadly speaking, they are ques- 
tions growing out of the relation of labor and capital. In the 
preceding chapter reference has been made to certain labor 
organizations. Among the first objects of these bodies was the 
protection of American laborers against the competition of 
foreigners. In later years organized labor has found a larger 
and more unselfish service in attempting to ameliorate the con- 
ditions of living among the labor people. It is true that the 
desire for increased wages, shorter hours, and a monopoly of the 
labor market have been primary factors with a large number, 
but many of them have seen in these more humane conditions 
opportunities for greater enlightenment and higher culture. 
For example, a higher wage would make possible more whole- 
some food, better clothing, and more sanitary and comfortable 
homes. Shorter hours would also furnish leisure for intellectual 
and social development. Laws regulating child labor would con- 
serve the lives of the children and give them an opportunity for 
acquiring the rudiments of an education. These demands evi- 
dently express the better aspirations of the labor element and 
should be interpreted as one of the hopeful signs of the times. As 
the labor unions increased in numbers and power, they extended 
their demands beyond the field of social and economical interest 



LABOR AND CAPITAL 499 

to matters more directly political. The Knights of Labor, 
numbering 700,000 members in the first year of Cleveland's 
administration, asked for a graduated income tax, compulsory 
arbitration of disputes between labor and capital, and govern- 
ment ownership of telegraphs, telephones, and railroads. The 
demands of labor were strongly interpreted by Henry George 
in his Progress and Poverty and by Edward Bellamy in his 
Looking Backward. These two books have continued to do a 
wonderful service for American labor. When the labor unions 
failed to get what they wanted by state or national legislation, 
the more ignorant and irresponsible members sometimes joined 
with foreign workmen in strikes and riots. Statistics seem to 
prove that during the first year of Cleveland's term of office, 
there were seven hundred or more strikes. The president was 
impressed with the seriousness of these movements and earnestly 
recommended to Congress the establishment of a federal labor 
commission whose duty it should be to study carefully needs 
and conditions, and adjust disturbances between capital and 
labor. The creation of the National Bureau of Labor in the 
Department of the Interior in 1SS4 perhaps led Congress to feel 
that enough had been done for the time in behalf of organized 
labor and so the president's recommendations were not embodied 
in law. But the labor element was by no means discouraged. 
On the other hand, it had gained great confidence in itself, had 
perfected a national organization, the American Federation of 
Labor, and had taught the country to have more respect for 
the laboring man. 

Indeed, the labor agitations had helped to call the attention 607. Ques- 

of the statesmen and public men in general to the high cost of *'°"^ relat- 

■^ . ing to a 

living and to federal extravagances. The president felt keenly protective 

the justice of many of the claims of labor and saw at the same **"^ 

time a gradually increasing surplus in the national treasury. 

This surplus, which had now reached the enormous sum of 

$450,000,000, was bad, not only as a business condition, but also 

as a very tempting bait to political grafters. The farmers of 

the West and South, complaining of governmental favoritism to 



500 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 

the manufacturers and railroad magnates of the East, joined 
with the labor element in protests against class legislation. 
President Cleveland found, as he thought, the seat of the trouble. 
Tariff duties levied during and since the Civil War had proved 
distinctly savory to the capitalistic element of the North and 
East. Consequently the sentiment of tariff reform had been 
comparatively weak, despite the fact that a national surplus had 
been accumulating all the while notwithstanding the govern- 
mental extravagances and political graft that characterized the 
early post-bellum period. The president believed that much 
of the economic unrest could be alleviated by a reduction of the 
tariff. It was not so much a question of how to spend as much 
money as came into the government's pockets, as how to secure 
for all classes a just share in the nation's prosperity. In his 
annual message in December, 1887, he declared that "the neces- 
saries of life used and consumed by all the people, the duties 
upon which add to the cost of living in every home, should be 
greatly cheapened. . . The simple and plain duty which we 
owe the people is to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses 
of an economical operation of the government, and to restore to 
the business of the country the money which we hold in the 
Treasury through the perversion of governmental powers." 
This was plain talk and rang true in the ears of the common 
people. The president had twice before recommended tariff 
revision and Congress had refused to follow on account of certain 
reactionary Democrats in the House who represented an in- 
dustrial suffrage. This time the unmistakable tone of the 
president's message and his fearless defence of the consumer 
brought the reactionaries of his party into line and secured the 
passage of a bill, prepared by Roger Q. Mills of Texas, reducing 
the tariff in such a way "as not to necessitate or justify either 
the loss of employment by the workingmen, or the lessening of 
their wages." The average reduction was perhaps as much as 
eight per cent. The Republican Senate defeated the measure 
and the president's battle for the people was lost. He had 
especially sought to serve the laboring and agricultural classes 



THE RAILROADS 501 

of the West and South and consumers everywhere, but he had 
been defeated by organized capital in the North and East. 

The unexampled prosperity of the country after the panic of 608. The 
1873 had greatly encouraged the development of "big business" ^°'"p®''^ ^°^^ 
in the New England and Middle Atlantic states. Before that 
panic, industry had been more or less individualistic; thereafter, 
it was largely corporate. The organization of labor mentioned 
in the preceding pages saw its counterpart in the combination 
of capital. The business interests found it economical and' 
profitable to operate with large capital, and hence formed great 
corporations that covered the country. In some cases they 
became so powerful as to monopolize an entire industry. This 
they did in various ways: sometimes through superior manage- 
ment, sometimes through the purchase of competing companies, 
sometimes through the unfair manipulation of prices, and, more 
often, through the absorption of a majority of the stock of 
competing enterprises by a few men who constituted themselves 
a board of directors for the combined industry. This last form 
of organization is called a " trust." Practically all of the leading 
industries of the country had now passed under this form of 
control — oil, lumber, railway, mining, sugar, tobacco, and 
other trusts which maintained lobbies at the national capital 
and greatly influenced legislation. In many instances they 
brought strong pressure to bear upon Congressmen and effectu- 
ally thwarted the interests of the people, while at the same time 
they corrupted the great law-making branch of the government. 

THE RAILROADS 

Among the worst of the great organizations were the rail- 609. The 
roads. The enormity of their offences was brought to the public Jransporta- 
eye by reason of their indispensable service to a rapidly growing tion com- 
people. The wonderful development of the agricultural and p*°*®^ 
mining resources of the West and South had modified the 
relation of these sections to labor and other social problems and 
also to the national wealth; and, of course, these regions became 
fields of exploitation for organized capital. The cities which 



502 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 

. sprang up while the crops were growing could consume but little 
of the mineral and agricultural products, and transportation to 
distant markets, therefore, became a matter of universal concern 
to the farmer, the miner, and the business man alike. The 
opportunity for the railroads was great enough even under 
legitimate management, but, in those days, "big business," 
like politics, was not over-honest in its methods. The railroads, 
of course, had a practical monopoly of the transportation facili- 
ties in these new regions from the beginning. There was nothing . 
wrong with this so long as they were managed with a sense of 
responsibility to the people served. Unfortunately, they used 
their monopoly without mercy. Excessive freight rates were 
regularly charged, thus placing a burdensome tax upon the 
consumer and producer ahke and taking away from the legiti- 
mate owner much that he had earned with the sweat of his brow. 
Worse, perhaps, than this was the practice of discrimination 
between shippers. This evil manifested itself in two forms. 
Oftentimes more was charged for a short than for a long haul 
because of competition among trunk lines. This put the local 
shipper at a great disadvantage and reacted with equal hardship 
upon the producer. Localities in which the railways had 
pecuniary interests received cheaper rates than others, and 
rebates were given to favorite shippers. In addition to these 
evils, competing lines were merged into trusts and "pooled"^ 
their earnings, thus destroying competition and making it easy 
to fix exorbitant rates. They entered into agreements of 
mutual profit with the steel trust, the oil trust, the meat trust, 
etc., and thus reaped untold profit from the necessities of the 
people. 
610. The 'phe first popular protest against these wicked methods of 
Commerce the railroads manifested itself in various state legislatures. 
•^*^* Laws were passed not only prescribing equitable freight rates 

within a state but endeavoring also to regulate interstate 
traffic. This brought a series of difficulties to commerce, 

1 To "pool" is to contribute to a common stock upon the basis of a mutual 
division of profits or losses. 



THE RAILROADS 503 

similar in effect to the tariff laws of the states under the Articles 
of Confederation. The laws were difficult of enforcement and 
failed to reach the seat of the trouble. Naturally, relief was 
sought from Congress. In 1884 Senator John B. Reagan of 
Texas introduced an Interstate Commerce Act designed espe- 
cially to help the farmers and small shippers. On January 18, 
1886 Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois reported a bill for 
the committee appointed "to investigate and report on the 
subject of regulating the transportation of freights and passen- 
gers between the several states by railroads and water routes." 
More than a year was consumed in debate and in attempts to 
amend or to substitute. On February 4, 1887, the Interstate 
Commerce Act became law. It created a commission of five 
men and clothed them with power to investigate the books of 
railroads doing interstate commerce. It forbade "pooHng," 
and discriminating in the matter of rates, and was expected to 
secure equitable rates. It required publicity of railway tariff 
schedules and empowered the commission to interrogate railway 
managers. The roads continued much of their iniquitous 
business because the commission lacked certain powers; but 
subsequent Acts have materially strengthened the commission 
and greatly extended its usefulness. It was given authority in 
i8gi to compel testimony; in 1893 a supplementary Act was 
passed compelling testimony even at the risk of self-incrimina- 
tion. In 1903 the Elkins Bill forbade rebates from published 
tariff rates, penalizing both railroads and shippers guilty of 
violation of the Act. In 1910 the powers of the commission were 
extended over telephone, telegraph, and cable companies, and 
were greatly enlarged with respect to rate making. The Act 
was especially significant from the view point of the people, who 
had at last found a power that could at least do something to 
restrain the cupidity of corporate wealth. In a later chapter 
it will be shown how the people are now applying the lessons 
here learned to almost every public service industry in the 
country. 



504 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 



611. Presi- 
dential elec- 
tion, 



THE ELECTION OF HARRISON 

As the presidential election approached it was evident that 
Cleveland would be renominated, though he had grievously dis- 
appointed the leading politicians of his party. He had acted 
with such courage and honesty, had faced the new problems of 
industrialism with such intelligence, had "relegated to the limbo 
of oblivion" the issues of sectional antagonism with such ruth- 
less indifference, that not even 
his bitterest enemies dared op- 
pose his nomination. He was, 
therefore, nominated by accla- 
mation at the convention of 
his party in St. Louis, June, 
1 888. The Republicans offered 
their nomination to Blaine, who 
was now away in Europe, but 
he refused it and recommended 
General Benjamin Harrison of 
Indiana, United States Senator, 
lawyer, veteran of the Civil War, 
and grandson of former Presi- 
dent William Henry Harrison. 
The campaign was pitched on a much higher plane than that 
of 1884. Instead of abusive personalities and the outworn 
issues of the Civil War, the tariff question constituted the storm 
center of political action. The Republican press and platform 
hammered Cleveland as a "free trader" and tearfully prophesied 
the gloomy fate of the working classes in case of his reelection. 
Wages must needs go down and thousands would be out of 
employment should the Democrats be returned to power. As 
before, the contest depended upon the vote of New York. 
Unfortunately, the reactionary Democratic governor in that 
state, David B. Hill, sold the prospect of the national ticket for 
enough Republican votes to reelect himself governor. Harrison 
carried the state by a small margin and was elected to the presi- 




Benjamin Harrison 



THE ELECTION OF HARRISON 505 

dency. It should be said, however, that Cleveland was sus- 
tained in the popular election by more than 100,000 votes. 
Government for the people had lost the election but it had set 
up new ideals of service in the public mind and had given the 
country fresh hope in the struggle for economic and industrial 
freedom. 

SUMMARY 

President Cleveland came into office in 1885. He believed that govern- 
ment should be administered for the good of all the people; and he set a 
high standard of efficiency for the whole public service. Such conception 
of duty led to improvement of the civil service, to the repeal of the Tenure- 
of-office Act, and the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 
Strongly opposed to extravagance in the use of the people's money, and 
especially for partisan purposes, the president lost the support of those 
Democrats who were patriots "for revenue only." Congress also was 
beginning to consider public questions in the light of the public good. It 
passed the Presidential Succession Act, and the law which leaves disputes 
concerning electoral votes to be settled by the states involved. 

The most important issues that President Cleveland had to face were 
those growing out of the new business expansion. The demand for labor 
brought to the country a large number of foreigners who had no sym- 
pathy with American institutions and who provoked riots and strikes; and 
these circumstances gave rise to a series of more stringent immigration laws, 
directed especially toward the Chinese. Because of the increased importance 
of labor and the bad conditions under which it was compelled to work, labor 
organizations were formed which demanded shorter hours, better pay, and 
more sanitary conditions of living. The continued discussion of these 
questions forced the attention of the country to the whole problem of the 
high cost of living, and led many men, among them the president, to fix the 
responsibility upon the protective tariff. An attempt to reduce it was 
defeated by the Senate, and the industries of the country continued to reap 
large profits from import duties. The accumulation of wealth now led to 
corporate industry on a very much larger scale than ever before, and "big 
business" began to exert purposeful and questionable influence upon politics 
and government. Wealth was expanding and developing the country as 
well as itself, and felt that it had the right of exploitation. Among corpor- 
ate offenders were the railroads, which were charging excessive and unequal 
rates despite the fact that the government, the agent of the people, had 
subsidized them with large grants of land. To regulate them, Congress 
created the Interstate Commerce Commission (February 4, 1887); and since 
that date it has extended governmental supervision to a number of corporate 



5o6 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE 

enterprises. Such a vigorous administration of the people's business 
naturally developed opposition to President Cleveland, and he was defeated 
in 1888 by the Republican candidate, Benjamin Harrison. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What encouraging prospect might have been seen in the election of 1884? 
Give reason for your answer. 2. How did Cleveland's conception of public oflBce 
differ from the general conception before his administration? 3. Explain clearly 
what is meant by the oft-quoted expression, "public office is a public trust." 4. 
What legislation in the early part of Cleveland's first administration exhibited a 
broader spirit toward public problems? 5. Show how the Chinese question was an 
outgrowth of the new industrial conditions. 6. What danger to our country arises 
from immigration? Would it be wise to exclude all immigrants? 7. Show how 
the riot in Haymarket Street, Chicago, was due to the new economic and industrial 
conditions. 8. What are some of the present day problems growing out of the 
relations of capital and labor? g. What are some of the higher and noblgr purposes 
that animate organized labor? What are some of the material motives? 10. Do 
you think that increased knowledge of mutual interests and better understanding 
of all public questions would help to solve the trouble between capital and labor? 
Why? II. What evils did President Cleveland hope to remedy by a reduction of 
the tariff? Did he succeed? 12. What is a "trust," and why did such organizations 
come into existence? How did they affect national poUtics? 13. What part have 
the railroads had in developing our resources and contributing to our prosperity? 
14. In what way have the railroads abused their power and done injury to the 
people? What attempt has the government made to correct these abuses and what 
other solution has been offered? 15. What kind of tariff did President Cleveland 
favor? 16. What were the issues in the campaign of 1888? 17. Can you see in 
President Cleveland's administration a tendency to give still more regard to the 
people? 18. Show that "big business" was beginning to feel that the government 
might get in its way. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Wilson, Division and Reunion, American People, 
vol. v; Dewey, National Problems; Ely, Monopolies and Trusts; Commons, Labor 
Problems; Blaine, American Tarijj Controversies in the Nineteenth Century; Bryce, 
The American Commonwealth, vol. ii, Revised; FoUett, The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives; Henderson, American Diplomatic Questions. 

Sources. — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iv; MacUonald, Select 
Statutes. 

Illustrative Material. — Payne, Money Captain; Merwin and Webster, 
Calumet K., Short Line War; Anon, The Breadwinners. (See list in chapter xx\'ii.) 

REPUBLICANS REVERSE CLEVELAND'S POLICIES 

The election of 1888 had not only retired a Democratic presi- 612. The 

dent, but it had also returned a Republican majority to Con- return of 

. the bosses 

gress. The triumphant party now came back with equal 

confidence in its own wisdom and in the people's support. 
Setting itself from the first squarely against the pohcies of the 
Cleveland administration, it advanced the tariff rates, dis- 
posed of the treasury surplus in increased pensions and a 
stronger navy, and played poHtics with the currency ques- 
tion. Its feeling toward the South had lost a degree of its 
old-time bitterness, but was still tinctured with a touch of 
intolerance. The new president, possessing in no large measure 
the powers of leadership, was made the catspaw of those more 
influential. A veteran of the Civil War, his ideals were largely 
those of a former day. Service to his party was paramount to 
service to his country. Not that he was dishonest or un- 
patriotic from his view point, but that he belonged to a by- 
gone poUtical age. He was out of his element in both time and 
place, and was therefore unable wisely to serve the whole 
people. He was under obligation to the briUiant, aggressive, 

507 



So8 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 



613. Con- 
gressional 
extrava- 
gances 



partisan Blaine, whom he made his chief adviser in the cabinet. 
His influence upon the Senate was overshadowed by the able 
and skillful leadership of Senator John Sherman of Ohio. In 
the House, the despotic speaker, Thomas B. Reed of Maine, 
built up a machine that needed only the press of the button to 
make effective his own will. So absolute was the speaker's 
control of his party in the House that in recognition of his 
autocratic port and power he was called "Czar Reed." Under 
such leaders it was all but inevitable that the executive de- 
partment should lose much of the prestige that it had gained 
during Cleveland's administration, and that the party machin- 
ery should be manipulated for partisan purposes. 

As in previous days, the national treasury offered the first 
and best opportunity. It had greatly tempted the Demo- 
crats, who had been fortunately restrained in a measure by the 
executive veto, Cleveland having put the ban upon the Depend- 
ent Pension Bill of 1S87 along with some hundred others of 
the same kind. The Republicans naturally received the sup- 
port of the Civil War veterans and no less naturally wished 
to keep it. There was more money in the treasury than was 
needed for other purposes, so why not be liberal in the care of 
those who had saved the Union? Why be so scrupulous as the 
former president had been in weighing the claims of old soldiers ? 
They had performed a great service at the risk of their lives 
and in sacrifice of their best days. It would be base ingrati- 
tude to refuse their demands. The result of such a policy was 
a foregone conclusion, and a veritable raid was made upon the 
national treasury. The pension bill at the beginning of Harri- 
son's administration amounted to $89,000,000; at its close it 
had reached the exorbitant sum of $159,000,000, and the end 
was not yet. The worst feature, however, was not the ex- 
cessive amount, but rather the motive behind it. Along with 
its extravagance in pensions the Republican party also turned 
back into the Northern state treasuries the sum of $20,000,000 
which had been collected in direct taxes during the Civil War. 
Expensive public buildings were erected in hundreds of small 



CLEVELAND'S POLICIES REVERSED 509 

cities and ship subsidies were proposed to build up the national 
commerce. Lighthouses, harbors, and coast defences con- 
sumed large sums, and a costly and effective navy was built, 
placing the United States well toward the front in naval equip- 
ment. 

It should be said, however, that the Republicans faithfully 614. The 
kept their promises in regard to the tariff issue. They took Tariff Bill 
their election as an endorsement of the protective tariff policy, 
for which they had fought in the campaign. They had said 
that such a tariff was necessary for the preservation of our in- 
fant industries and the protection of American laborers. They 
had contended with effectiveness that the Democratic policy 
contemplated a condition of free trade that would ruin man- 
ufacturing industries and throw many thousands out of em- 
ployment. Accordingly, the Ways and Means Committee of 
the House set itself the immediate task of saving the country, 
or at least a portion of it. Early in i8go, the chairman of this 
committee, William McKinley of Ohio, brought in a measure 
effectually raising the tariff on many of the necessities of life, 
such as clothing, fuel, food products, implements, and common 
household articles, though it opened a way for a limited reci- 
procity policy. It passed the House after a two weeks skirmish 
and went to the Senate. Here it was held up for months by 
the Democrats and a few hesitant Republicans, until October i, 
when it became a law. The Democrats had fought the measure 
as a piece of class legislation, had contended that it would raise 
the price to the consumer of protected goods, and had ex- 
pressed the fear that it would augment the treasury surplus 
and thus increase the temptation to oflficial extravagance and 
dishonesty. The vote by which the measure passed was 
strictly partisan, and the issue was now clearly drawn for the 
next presidential election. 

In the same year with this tariff legislation the Republicans 615. The 
likewise attempted to amend the Federal Election Law in such a Election 
way as to deprive the South, and hence the Democratic party. Bill 
of some of its representation in the House. In most of the 



5IO GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 

Southern states laws had been passed that practically nullified 
the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, 
The white men of the South, making law of necessity, had taken 
almost exclusive control of all elections, and battalions of negro 
voters of a former day had deserted their colors. Representation 
in Congress, which was based upon the total citizenship, re- 
gardless of color or previous condition of serN'itudc, was out of 
all proportion to the actual voting strength of the Southern 
states. The RepubUcans now put through the House a Federal 
Election Law (1890) providing for the appointment of federal 
supervisors of national elections. Though the measure failed 
in the Senate, it is significant in several ways: It expressed a 
sentiment of impatience with all attempts to evade federal 
authority; it marked the last effort on the part of the North to 
interfere in Southern elections, though the subject continued to 
give rise to dispute; it exemplified the anxiety of the Republican 
party to maintain its control of the federal machinery. 
616. The Indeed, so slender was the majority of the Republicans in 

Ac^'^'^^^ Congress that they could do little more than play to the galleries. 
Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and 
South Dakota were admitted in iSSg and 1890, partly at least 
with the hope of increasing the number of Republican senators 
and representatives in Congress. But as has been seen, these 
Western states were chiefly interested in agriculture, mining, 
and stockraising, and were about as likely to cast their political 
fortunes with the agricultural South and the Democrats as with 
the industrial East and the Rejiublicans. Indeed, sympathy 
between the West and South over many questions of transporta- 
tion, agriculture, etc., was increasing. The Farmers' Alliance 
had been formed in 1887 in the rapidly developing West and 
South, and a national People's Party was in process of develop- 
ment at the same time. The silver states, Montana, Nevada, 
Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming, joined the new movement 
because their products, like those of the farmers, were steadily 
declining in value, and, like the manufacturers of the East, they 
believed that their peculiar interests should be protected by the 



CLEVELAND'S POLICIES REVERSED 511 

federal government. The silver in a standard dollar was worth 
89 cents in gold in 1878 and only 73 cents in 1889. In order to 
make use of this growing restlessness in the new states and to 
keep their leaders loyal to the Republican party, the politicians 
again began to tamper with the currency question. Senator 
Sherman secured the passage of an' Act in 1890 which repealed 
the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 and directed the secretary of the 
treasury "to purchase, from time to time, silver bullion to the 
aggregate amount of four million five hundred thousand ounces, 
or so much thereof as may be offered in each month, at the 
market price thereof, not exceeding one dollar for three hundred 
and seventy one and twenty-five hundredths grains of pure 
silver, and to issue in payment for such purchase of silver 
bullion, treasury notes of the United States to be prepared by 
the secretary of the treasury, in such form and of such denomi- 
nation ... as he may prescribe. . . That the treasury 
notes . . . shall be redeemable on demand, in coin . . . and 
such treasury notes shall be a legal tender in payment of all 
debts, public and private. . . That the secretary of the 
treasury shall each month coin two million ounces of the silver 
bullion purchased under the provisions of this Act into standard 
silver dollars until the first day of July, eighteen hundred and 
ninety-one" and as much thereafter as necessary "to provide 
for the redemption of the treasury notes herein provided 
for." The Act further declared that it was "the established 
policy of the United States to maintain the two metals on a 
parity with each other upon the present legal ratio, or such 
ratio as may be provided by law." The price of silver had an 
upward turn at first, but the law of supply and demand was more 
powerful than the law of Congress, and so the price again took 
a tumble.^ The results of this measure were reaped by the next 
administration in a general panic. 

The country now went into a Congressional election. Hard 617. Con- 
as the Republicans had tried to curry favor with the voters, they fevolution 
could not stem the tide of opposition which their extravagance 
1 In 1892 aa ounce of silver was worth 67 cents. 



512 



GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 



618. The 
seal fish- 
eries 



619. Rela- 
tions with 
southern 
repubUcs 



and the high cost of Uving brought upon the party. The results 
were decisive. The Republican majority in the House was 
supplanted by the Democrats in the ratio of 235 to 88. This 
put an end to important legislation for the next two years and 
gave the spectacular Blaine an opportunity to enjoy the lime- 
light. 

BLAINE IN THE LIMELIGHT 

Among the first problems incident to his office as secretary 
of state was one which Mr. Blaine inherited from the Cleveland 
administration. The United States looked upon the Bering 
sea as a natural part of Alaska and hence subject to federal 
control; but the seal fisheries therein led British sealing vessels 
to disregard these views and to treat Bering sea as open waters. 
In 1886 and again in 1889, United States revenue cutters seized 
British trading vessels outside the three-mile limit from the 
shore. Blaine now added to the old argument mentioned above 
the additional contention that wherever they went the seals 
were "tame herds" which belonged to the United States. 
Great Britain resented this sort of defence in no unmistakable 
terms and Blaine was forced to yield or become responsible 
for an unwelcome conflict. The matter was at length settled 
in 1893 at Paris by a board of arbitration. The United States 
lost every contention and had to pay damages besides. 

Blaine had long cherished the dream of augmenting the 
influence of the United States in South and Central America 
through commercial treaties and the cultivation of friendly 
relations. During the Garfield administration he had acted as 
peacemaker between Chile and Peru, assuming, by his methods, 
the role of a would-be international arbiter for the southern 
republics. He had long advocated a poUcy of reciprocity with 
these nations, and it was through his influence that such an 
element was embodied in the McKinley Tariff Bill. He had 
taken steps looking toward the control of an Isthmian canal, 
and had encouraged a Pan-American Congress in 1881, which, 
long deferred, assembled in October, 1889, at Washington. It 



BLAINE IN THE LIMELIGHT 513 

discussed questions of trade, currency, and arbitration, and 
recommended a Pan-American railway. The material results 
were almost unnoticeable, but the Congress was significant in 
foreshadowing the time when American industry would make a 
conquest of the markets of the world. 

The pacific relations with a South American neighbor were 
disturbed by revolutionary movements in Chile. When the 
United States minister to that country offered an asylum to the 
defeated authorities, the revolutionists retaliated by an attack 
upon American sailors in the streets of Valparaiso. Failing to 
receive the expected apology, President Harrison (January 25, 
1892), in a message to Congress, suggested war. The receipt 
of acceptable apologies in the nick of time averted hostilities. 

More important, perhaps, than any of these incidents was 620. The 

the trouble with Germany. At this time there was at the helm Samoan 

1 1 • • islands 

of German affairs a statesman no less able and ambitious than 

the American secretary of state. Prince von Bismarck, the 
German chancellor, had brought Germany through an arduous 
but highly successful period of internal development, and was 
cherishing an unbounded desire to increase the influence of the 
young empire in international affairs. Moreover, his country 
was already feeling strongly the impulse to acquire large colonial 
possessions. Accordingly, she had joined with the United 
States and Great Britain in a kind of protectorate over the 
Samoan islands. Bismarck now decided that it would be well 
to exclude the British and Americans from Sam^a and exercise 
undivided authority there; so he took possession of the leading 
town of the islands in the name of the German emperor and 
prepared to defend it against all comers. The Americans 
accepted the challenge by dispatching a number of warships to 
the islands and war seemed almost inevitable. Fortunately, 
it was averted through the conciliatory agency of a Pacific 
tj^phoon which greatly damaged both fleets, and led to a con- 
ference at Berlin in which Germany recognized the neutrality 
of the islands, and the rights of both Great Britain and the 
United States as protectors. The incident had effected for 



514 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 

another what Bismarck had wished for Germany; America had 
entered with success the field of international politics. 
621. Presi- In the meantime, the presidential election was approaching 
dential elec- again. Blaine had occupied the center of the political stage, 
and his name was once more mentioned for the presidency. He 
wavered in his own mind and lost the nomination to President 
Harrison. The Democrats for the third time nominated Grover 
Cleveland in spite of a strong reactionary element led by David 
B. Hill of New York and a free-silver contingent which feared 
the ex-president's attitude toward the currency question. Each 
party recognized the practical importance of the silver industry, 
and equivocally pronounced in favor of the maintenance of 
both gold and silver as money and on a parity. The leading 
issue, however, was the tariff, and on this question Cleveland 
had a record that appealed to the people. He won a sweeping 
victory, receiving 277 electoral votes to 145 for Harrison, and 
leading in the popular vote by approximately 400,000. More- 
over, for the first time since Buchanan, the Democrats gained 
control of both the House and the Senate, and apparently might 
hope to enact into law a series of genuinely Democratic measures. 
But the election had other features of significance besides a 
Democratic triumph. The increasing economic and social dis- 
content of the West and South was now represented in a national 
People's Party, commonly known as Populists, which promul- 
gated a platform demanding the free and unlimited coinage of 
silver, government ownership of railroads, telegraph and tele- 
phone lines, the direct election of United States senators, a 
graduated income tax, and many other measures of a distinctly 
reformatory character. They nominated James B. Weaver of 
Iowa for ])resident and polled 22 votes in the electoral college, 
a result that should have acted as a bugle call to progressive 
legislation ; how well it was heeded will appear in the pages that 
follow. The popular vote of this "Third Party" had exceeded 
1,000,000. 



SUMMARY AND QUESTIONS 515 

SUMMARY 

When the Republican party returned to power March 4, 1889, it was 
under the domination of pohtical bosses in both the legislative and executive 
branches of the government. President Harrison, a good man, was old 
and lacked the power of party leadership. Blaine, Sherman, and Reed 
practically controlled the Republican party and hence the government. 
Large sums of money were voted to pensioners who were, or might become, 
good party followers. The navy was greatly enlarged at enormous cost, 
and ofikial extravagance again became notorious. To prevent a treasury 
deficit where there had been a surplus; and to give further aid to manufac- 
turing interests, the McKinley Tariff Act raised the import duties on a 
number of articles, and, as the Democrats have charged, sent the cost of 
living still higher. Since the North was reaping so great benefit from 
favorable tariff legislation, the West began to feel that its rapidly growing 
silver interests ought likewise to receive the protection of the national 
government. Already the government was purchasing silver to the amount 
of $2,000,000 a month, but it was necessary from a Republican standpoint 
to keep the West in line politically, so the Sherman Silver Act was passed, 
which committed the government to the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of 
silver monthly and to the issue of certificates equal in amount to the silver 
purchased. 

A Congressional election in 1890 overthrew the Republican majority in 
the House and thereby put a check to partisan legislation. The public 
mind then centered upon our foreign relations — particularly with Great 
Britain, the South American states, and Germany. As results, national 
influence was heightened, and the attention of American capital was again 
directed to the possibilities of commerce with distant islands and with other 
continents. 

Harrison was renominated by the Republicans in 1S92 and Cleveland 
again carried the standard for the Democrats. The leading issue was the 
tariff, and the Democrats won control of both the executive and the legisla- 
tive branches of the government. In the meantime, the "Populists" or 
People's Party had entered the field of national politics. This party de- 
manded free silver, government ownership of public utilities, an income tax, 
and other reforms of a sweeping character. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. Contrast the policy of the Republicans in 1S90 and that of Cleveland in 1S85. 
2. Why was Harrison elected over Cleveland in 18S8? 3. Why was Cleveland 
elected over Harrison in 1892? 4. What were the arguments used by the Republi- 
cans in support of the McKinley tariff? By the Democrats against it? 5. Did 
the silver states of the West have as good reason to ask for national protection as 



5i6 GOVERNMENT FOR THE PARTY 

did the manufacturing states of New Kngland? Discuss. 6. Was the Sherman 
Silver Purchase Act a measure of statesmanship, or of politics? Discuss. 7. Did 
the Act succeed in holding the West in line for the Republicans? 8. Account for 
the rise of the People's Party in 1892. g. Have any of the measures which that 
party advocated found their way to platforms of other parties? Have any of them 
been enacted into federal law? 10. Would government ownership of public utilities 
lend any strength to the cause of centralization? 11. Is it true that the tendency 
to centralize power increases with the advancement of civilization? 12. Is it true 
that government is administered more and more in the interests of the people as 
people become more intelligent? 13. How do you account for the growth of the 
pension roll as we get further away from the Civil War? 14. Was the United States 
right or wrong in its contention about the seal fisheries? 15. What eSect did the 
Samoan trouble have upon the national influence? 16. In what interest was govern- 
ment being administered in those days? 17. WTiat was the average .\merican 
thinking about in those days? 18. When he went to vote, what interest was upper- 
most in his mind? 



CHAPTER XXIX 
A NEW CRISIS 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Wilson, Division and Reunion, American People, 
vol. v; Lamed, History for Ready Reference, vol. v; Dewey, Financial History; 
Taussig, Tariff Ilislory; Bryan, The First Battle; Harvey, Coin's Financial School; 
Stanwood, History of the Presidency. 

Sources.- — Hart, Source Book, Contemporaries, vol. iv; MacDonald, Select 
Statutes. 

Illustrative Material. — Foote, Coeur d'Alene, The Chosen Valley. 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TROUBLES 

When the Democrats took into their hands the reins of govern- 622. Panic 
ment on March 4, 1893, the country was in a situation that has ° ^ ^^ 
no parallel in American history. The tariff question had been 
prominent in the campaign, the Democrats having stood for a • 
downward revision of the schedules. Great industrial corpora- 
tions, either through fear or through purposeful self-interest, 
shut down their mills, turned thousands out of employment, 
and brought business stagnation upon the whole country. The 
gradually rising tariff rates of the former administration had 
greatly increased the cost of living, and caused distress and 
suffering to labor, which was compelled to pay higher prices 
without enjoying a corresponding increase in wages. Yet the 
prices of farm produce had somehow declined, and there was a 
storm of discontent in the West and South. Thousands of the 
common people grew desperate in their desire for relief, and the 
feehng against capital was angry. Men of all occupations were 
uneasy, suspicious, and fearful of the future. In the life of the 
nation there had come a new crisis, an economic crisis, which 
threatened social disorder if not social revolution. The great 
deep was again broken up, not in regard to slavery, or state 



Si8 ■ A NEW CRISIS 

rights, or the law, or the Constitution, but upon the right of 
every American citizen to enjoy the fruits of his own labor and 
be secure against the greed of the barons of industry. The new 
administration had come into power in a period of disturbance, 
of riot, of strikes, of political heresies and economic innovations. 
It was well for the ship of state that a strong and fearless pilot 
stood at the helm. The folly and extra\agance of those who 
had gone before Cleveland had left an empty treasury. Politi- 
cal truckling to the silver interests had destroyed the gold re- 
serve which was thought to be necessary for the redemption of 
treasury notes and silver certificates, and had driven gold into 
hiding, because silver was so cheap that men wanted to pay their 
debts with it, while they held the gold as a simple matter of 
precaution. Under the Sherman Act the paper currency had 
reached the extravagant sum of $500,000,000 and the govern- 
ment could get no gold with which to redeem it. Customs 
duties were being paid, for the most part, in silver, while large 
amounts of gold were attracted to the Old World to discharge 
unfa\orable trade balances which business ner\-ousness had 
created. Yet if the government should refuse to ])ay in gold, 
the law-made parity of gold and siher would be destroyed, 
property values wrecked, and credit ruined. It was Scylla on 
one side and Charybdis on the other. What should be done? 
The president was not a man to waver or falter in a crisis. 
He adopted two clear-cut policies and followed them con- 
sistently to the end. 
623. Cleve- In the first place, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act should 
an s po 1- ^^^ repealed and as a consequence the accumulation of silver 
certificates would be checked. Thus there would be a limit to 
the demands that might be made upon the treasury for gold, 
so far, at least, as those who held treasury notes and silver 
certificates were concerned. Accordingly, a special session of 
Congress was called for the summer of 1S93 for the purpose of 
considering fmancial matters. Before Congress could assemble, 
the price of silver slumped heavily and many mines in the West 
were closed, throwing thousands of workers out of employment 



ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TROUBLES 519 

and adding largely to the discontented classes in the cities. 
Silver conventions were held in protest against anti-silver legis- 
lation, and the silver men in Congress made a determined stand. 
Their fight was useless so far as the House was concerned, for 
leaders there felt the necessity of supporting the administration. 
In the Senate, however, the strong silver contingent prevented 
action until far into the autumn. The final passage of a repeal 
measure contributed its share to the restoration of business 
confidence and normal conditions of industry. 

The other measure which the administration carried through 
did not require Congressional action. Its object was the in- 
crease of the gold supply in the national treasury. To accom- 
plish this end, United States bonds, purchasable with gold only, 
were issued to the sum of $100,000,000. But the buyers of these 
bonds presented their paper currency at the treasury and asked 
for gold with which to buy the bonds. Such management 
amounted to forcing the government to float its own bonds with 
its own gold, and, therefore, commensurately nullified the 
government's purpose. The president then turned for relief to 
the financiers of the country. He arranged with a few New 
York bankers to furnish the treasury with gold in return for 
United States four per cent bonds. This plan worked more 
successfully than the general issue of bonds, and public confi- 
dence was further restored. Naturally enough, however, it 
rendered Cleveland very unpopular, for the people were ner- 
vously suspicious of any negotiation between the government 
and the financiers. The silver question remained a disturbing 
issue before the country until after the next presidential elec- 
tion and left an impress upon the Democratic party very diffi- 
cult to efface. 

Certainly the financial crisis of the treasury did not invite a 624. The 
revision of the tariff, the issue upon which the Democrats had ^^v^'^ 
been elected. The party could not maintain its self-respect, 
however, and ask the country again for its suffrages if it neg- 
lected or refused to carry out its promises. Accordingly, 
William L. Wilson of West Virginia, chairman of the Ways and 



520 A NEW CRISIS 

Means Committee, brought before the House a genuine tariff 
reform measure. It placed sugar, iron ore, wool, lumber, and 
other raw materials upon the free Hst, and greatly reduced the 
tarifT on such manufactured articles as woolens, glass, cottons, 
and silks. The bill, after passing the House by a vote of nearly 
two to one, went to the Senate, and, as had happened in the case 
of the currency bill, this body offered stubborn resistance. 
Special interests like the steel, sugar, woolen, and lumber indus- 
tries protested strongly against the destruction of their business. 
It was the old argument of protection again. The bill was so 
amended in the Senate that it almost deserved the title of the 
second "tarifif of abominations." It left the general average of 
tariff rates no lower than it had been under a Republican ad- 
ministration; so the Democrats, too, had betrayed a sacred 
trust. President Cleveland was heartily ashamed of his party 
in Congress and refused to sign the measure, though he did allow 
it to become law. The people were now more convinced than 
ever of the power of money in the upper branch of Congress, 
and the Populists could use one more argument for the direct 
election of United States senators. It was now evident, too, 
that the Democrats would, almost certainly, sufter defeat in the 
approaching national campaign. 
625. An To counteract the loss of revenue which the Wilson bill was 

found un- expected to entail, a provision had been inserted levying a tax 
constitu- of two per cent on incomes above $4000. Such a tax had been 
levied during the Civil War and had been regularly collected for 
several years thereafter. This part of the tariff bill, therefore, 
was passed by both Houses and became law. It was soon put 
to test, however, before the Supreme Court, which decided that, 
since it was a direct tax and such taxes were to be apportioned, 
under the Constitution, among the states in proportion to popu- 
lation, it was unconstitutional. This decision of the Court 
seemed to the people to indicate that the judiciary, like the 
Senate, was in league with capital, since much of the wealth of 
the country thus escaped formal taxation while the necessities 
of every poor man's household paid the toll of a "robber tariff." 



ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 521 

Privilege seemed intrenched in the capitol, and with power great 
enough to defeat all effort to dislodge it. 

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 

Dismayed by the political and financial conditions, enterprise 626. A gen- 
for a time almost ceased. Great numbers of people in the cities, 
threatened with starvation, joined here and there in angry, 
riotous mobs, while society stepped as though on needles. 
Farmers throughout the country were foreclosed by their credi- 
tors and all but gave up the fight in despair. Many good men 
lost confidence in the old political parties and gathered to the 
standard of the Populists. 

A pecuHar instance of the general unrest of the time, and an 627. Cox- 
occurrence with which even millions of the American people ^^ ^ ^'^^^ 
had more or less sympathy, was the gathering in Ohio of an 
army of malcontents under the leadership of "General" Jacob 
Coxey. This ragged "Army of the Commonwealth of Christ" 
marched upon Washington with the avowed purpose of demand- 
ing that the government give employment to the idle and issue 
$500,000,000 worth of greenbacks with which to pay them. 
On reaching the capitol Coxey was arrested for trespassing, 
or "walking on the grass," and his army of three hundred 
disbanded without accomplishing any good thing. Other 
spasmodic movements agitated the country from one end to 
the other, and added to the social and industrial chaos in all 
quarters. 

Another convulsion of the period, and one which brought upon 628. The 
the president a round of hostile criticism, was a strike among gtrik™ 
the employees of the Pullman Car company in Chicago. Pre- 
sumably the company was suffering from the general disorder 
of the time, though there was little external evidence that such 
was the case. At any rate, it saw fit to discharge some of 
its workmen and reduce the wages of others. Upon refusal of 
the management to listen to the remonstrance of the employees 
a general strike ensued. When it was proposed, through the 
American Railway Union (a Pullman labor organization with 



522 A NEW CRISIS 

Eugene V. Debs at the head), to submit the matter to arbitra- 
tion, the company again refused to yield and the union attempted 
by violence to prevent the movement of Pullman cars. This 
obstructed the United States mail on twenty-one railroads lead- 
ing from Chicago into the whole western country. The governor 
of lUinois made no effort to relieve the situation, so President 
Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago to protect federal 
interests. A federal court issued an injunction restraining the 
strikers from interference with the mail, but the mob would 
not be restrained until it was fired upon by the soldiers. Private 
and public property alike had seemed doomed to destruction, 
but when the strikers realized that the president meant business 
the trouble soon passed over. To the Westerners the president's 
action seemed an assumption of power, while to the laboring 
class it meant alliance between the executive and the capitalistic 
element. 

FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 

629. The Throughout his dealing with these economic and social 

Hawaiian problems, the president had manifested a strength of will inter- 
episode . 

preted by his opponents as obstinacy, which they modified 

into stubbornness when they saw his dealing with the Hawaiian 
question. This, like the domestic problems of the time, arose 
out of a rapidly expanding industrial interest. American 
capital had early found profitable investment in the far-away 
islands of the Pacific. In the Hawaiian group, many Ameri- 
cans now lived as citizens of the kingdom. Owning much 
property there, they had entered into the political life of the 
state and had come into practical control of the island. Early 
in 1893 Queen Liliuokalani determined to exclude the foreign- 
ers from political control by the promulgation of a new con- 
stitution. The Americans got together in an attempt to de- 
feat her plan, and with the assistance of the United States 
minister landed artillery from a United States battleship and 
set up a temporary government of their own. Within a month 
President Harrison sent a message to the Senate recommend- 



FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS 



523 



ing the annexation of Hawaii to the United States and sub- 
mitting a treaty to that end. The American residents had 
meanwhile assumed the authority to declare a protectorate over 
the islands. Just at this juncture Cleveland became president. 
He withdrew the treaty from before the Senate, sent a com- 
mission to Hawaii to investigate the situation, strongly con- 
demned the action of the United States minister, lowered the 
American flag from the public buildings, and proposed to re- 
store the queen to her throne on condition that all Americans 




Senate and Legislative Buildings, Honolulu, Hawaii 

should be pardoned for participation in the affair. The queen 
refused to grant the condition, and there the matter rested 
until the succeeding administration, when the islands were 
annexed to the United States (July, 1898).^ Cleveland had 
simply followed the traditional policy of the nation with re- 
spect to distant regions, but expanding industry was carrying 
the flag to the remotest parts of the earth. 

Another incident in the administration's foreign policy, and 630. The 

happiest in its result so far as the president was concerned, ^^'^''p^ 

^ . . ^ , ' Doctrine ap- 

was distmctly preparatory to an enlarged American activity plied against 

in all the affairs of the world. It grew out of the appli- ^^^^} ^"'" 

cation of the Monroe Doctrine (346) to the settlement of a Venezuela 

case 

* Since April, igoo, the islands have been a regularly organized territory of the 
United States. 



524 A NEW CRISIS 

boundary dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela. 
The issue was an old one, involving some twenty-three thousand 
square miles of mineral lands along the western boundary of 
British Guiana. Venezuela had made repeated complaints to 
the United States concerning Great Britain's encroachments; 
successive administrations had sought to effect a peaceful 
settlement of the affair; and Great Britain had as often re- 
jected all suggestions of compromise, though in such a diplo- 
matic way as to preclude immediate friction. When it seemed 
that all reasonable means of pacific adjustment had been 
exhausted, President Cleveland sent to Congress (December 17, 
1895) a message setting forth in fresh and vigorous form the 
policy of the United States with reference to the activities of 
European nations in the Western Hemisphere, and recom- 
mending an investigation of the facts in the Venezuela case. 
Congress received the message with enthusiasm and voted 
money for a commission to carry out the president's suggestion. 
Public opinion rallied heartily to the administration's support 
and possibly helped Lord Salisbury, the British premier and 
foreign secretary, to agree to arbitration. It should be further 
said that the prime minister had not represented the views of 
Englishmen generally, as was shown by more than three hundred 
members of Parliament who petitioned the president and Con- 
gress for an agreement by which all disputes between the two 
nations should thereafter be settled by arbitration. Commis- 
sioners met at Paris in 1899, fixed a boundary line, and thus 
settled a matter of long-standing importance. The idea of 
arbitration had received a wonderful stimulus, and negotiations 
had been begun which were to go far toward the abolition of 
international warfare. Since this Venezuela episode, senti- 
ment for the establishment of universal peace has grown very 
rapidly, not only in the United States and Great Britain, but 
all over the civilized world. Moreover, the United States had 
demonstrated her purpose to maintain the Monroe Doctrine 
in all its fullness and had increased her prestige among the 
European powers. Whatever interests American citizens might 



THE SILVER QUESTION 525 

hereafter acquire in any part of the world would be respected 
by sister nations. 

THE SILVER CAMPAIGN OF 1896 
While the president and his able secretary of state, Mr. 631. The 
Olney, were thus finding happy solutions to intricate problems divided on 
of foreign affairs, the economic and social forces were making the silver 
another and final attempt to reinvigorate the currency question. ^"^^ ^°°' 
Election year had rolled around again and brought political 
upheavals in great variety. Cleveland, by law of custom, was 
ineligible as a further candidate. Clearly, also, he was very 
unpopular and had lost the leadership of his party. He was 
hated by the agricultural West and South because of his currency 
measures and an imputed alliance with the money interests. 
The manufacturers of the East and North disliked him because 
he attempted genuine tariff reform. The laboring classes 
fought him because of his use of the federal power in suppression 
of labor disorders. Under such circumstances he was not even 
in a position to counsel his party. Indeed, the party itself 
scarcely knew its own mind, for its chief strength lay in the West 
and South where political heresies were rifest. Perhaps a great 
majority of the party felt that there was something radically 
wrong. Government must be wrested from the classes, the 
bankers, and railroad magnates of the East. The small opera- 
tor must be given an equal chance with the trust. The farm 
was not getting its fair share of the profits of industry. Money 
was too scarce on account of the government's gold standard 
and the industries of the country could only be set free by a 
more elastic currency. It was not a bad diagnosis. The diffi- 
culty lay in finding a remedy. The agricultural and mining 
interests believed it could be found in a reform of the currency. 
They believed that the United States had reached such a stand- 
ing in independence and power in the industrial and political 
world that she need not ask the cooperation of any people in the 
solution of what they considered a domestic question. Let the 
United States declare her economic independence by the adop- 



526 A NEW CRISIS 

tion of a system of free coinage of both gold and silver, the metals 
to be valued at the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one of 
gold. We are a free and powerful nation, dependent upon the 
policy of no other government, economically, politically, or 
financially. Besides, they argued, when the United States 
pronounces a certain silver coin a full dollar in value, the Euro- 
pean nations will be economically and financially compelled to 
join with the United States, and the result will be free silver 
all over the world and a consequent unmcasurable benefit to 
America, where the metal is so largely produced. The appeal 
was thrilling and went home to men everywhere, regardless of 
party, while the Democrats, strong in the South and West, were 
naturally disposed toward silver. When the national conven- 
tion of the Democrats met at Chicago in the summer of 1896 the 
silver men were in control. They denounced the Cleveland 
democracy, and in unequivocal terms declared for free coinage 
"without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation." 
632. Bryan In the choice of a candidate for the presidency, as in the 
ka- Mc-^^" adoption of a platform, the convention showed an unmistakable 
Kinley of impatience with all forms of conservatism. Richard P. Bland 
of Missouri was looked upon as the logical nominee of the silver 
men, and in fact he led in the first balloting. The issue of 
the ballots, however, was determined by a dramatic speech of 
William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska. When he brought to a 
close his burst of eloquence with the defiant note, "Thou shalt 
not press down the crown of thorns upon the brow of labor nor 
crucify man upon a cross of gold," the convention hall was a 
scene of wild enthusiasm and tumult. He was nominated for 
the presidency and the Democratic party was committed, both 
by its platform and its candidate, to the cause of free silver as 
a means to the liberation of the people from the thralldom of 
privilege. 

The issue was made. The Republicans had met three weeks 
earlier and had fought out the same question, but with different 
results. The gold-standard element had won and then, as if 
to placate the silver faction within its party, they nominated 



Ohio 



THE SILVER CAMPAIGN OF 1896 



527 



William McKinley of Ohio, a man whose convictions on the 
currency question were not thoroughly pronounced. He had 
been conspicuous as the author of the McKinley Tariff Act, had 
had long and successful experience in Congress, enjoyed the 
confidence of men of all parties in a remarkable degree, and was 
well prepared in every way to become the party's leader. 

The campaign was unique, spectacular, and very significant. 633. Elec- 
The Democratic candidate made the most remarkable canvass ^jjgy 
of the nation ever yet attempted. Such a continuous storm of 
oratory and tide of rhetoric 
had never before thundered 
from the platform or surged 
from the press. The campaign 
is graphically depicted by 
Woodrow Wilson as follows: 
"Such excitement, such a stir- 
ring of the moral and intel- 
lectual forces of the country, 
on the one side as if to regen- 
erate society, on the other as 
if to save it from disruption, 
had never before marked a 
political campaign. The elec- 
tion even of i860 had been pre- 
ceded by no such fever of agitation. The Democrats and their 
allies had the dramatic advantage. Their candidate made a 
gallant figure wherever he moved, and went up and down the 
country, as no presidential candidate before him had ever done, 
to give the people his own striking version of the doctrines he 
preached. To the excited crowds which pressed about him he 
seemed a knight errant going about to redress the wrongs of a 
nation. There could be no mistaking his earnestness or his 
conviction or the deep power of the motives to which he appealed. 
His gifts were those of a practised orator, his qualities those of 
a genuine man of the people. . . It was in the last analysis a 
contest between the radical and the conservative forces of the 




William McKinley 



paign 



528 A NEW CRISIS 

country, and the conservative forces won."' McKinley re- 
ceived a plurality of 600,000 popular votes with the electoral 
college 271 to 176 in his favor. 
634. Sig- The campaign was significant in several ways. The Demo- 
nificance of cratic party had fallen upon evil days. After the Chicago 
convention, the "sound money" Democrats held a convention 
and nominated John M. Pahner for president. They polled 
only a small vote, but enough to show a division in the Demo- 
cratic party. The beginning of the end had come to the 
People's Party, or Populists, who fused with the Democrats in 
support of Bryan and free silver and nominated Tom Watson 
of Georgia for vice-president. The National Silver Party, a 
branch of the Republicans, also accepted the Bryan leadership, 
but as soon as the silver issue died they fell away from their 
adopted party. The capitalistic element supported the Re- 
publicans and the triumph of this party was distinctly the 
triumph of "big business." "Obviously the business world, 
the whole world of industry, was in process of revolution. 
America, in particular, had come to the crisis and turning 
point of her development. Until now she had been struggling 
to release and organize her resources, to win her true economic 
place in the world. Hitherto she had always been a debtor 
nation, her instruments of industry making and to be made, 
her means of transportation, the vast systems of steel highways 
which were to connect her fields and factories with the markets 
of the world, as yet only in course of construction. The 
country had at last built up its railway and manufacturing 
systems, had at last got ready to come out of its debts, 
command foreign markets with something more than its food- 
stuffs, and make for itself a place of mastery. . . In March, 
1897, a great consolidation of iron mining properties, foundries, 
steel mills, railroads, and steamship lines was effected which 
brought the country's chief supplies of iron, its chief means of 
transporting steel products to the markets of the continent and 
of the world under a single organization and management, and 
reduced the cost of steel to a figure which put American steel 



SUMMARY 529 

factories beyond fear of competition. Steel had become the 
structural stuff of the modern world. Commanding its manu- 
facture, America might command the economic fortunes of the 
world." (Woodrow Wilson.) 

SUMMARY 

Capital opposed the election of Cleveland in 1892 because of his attitude 
toward the tariff and because in his former administration he had shown an 
unmistakable disposition to administer the government first of all in the 
interests of the people. Already the country was on the verge of grave 
economic disorders because of the Silver Purchase Act and the demands 
of growing industries. The capitalists, taking advantage of the conditions, 
slightly "tightened" the supply of gold, which was already becoming scarce, 
and brought on the "hardest" times the country had seen in many a day. 
Designing politicians in league with protected industry ascribed the new 
crisis to the danger from tariff revision. Silver had continued to decline 
in value despite the Congressional effort to bolster it up, and gold, therefore, 
became scarcer, even in the national treasury. To secure gold with which 
to take care of the flood of silver certificates which were daily being pre- 
sented for redemption, gold bonds were issued. This measure failed to 
bring the expected relief, and the president called for help upon Eastern 
capitalists, who furnished a supply of gold, and accepted United States four 
per cent bonds therefor. In the meantime, after long delay by the Senate, 
the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed with the expectation that its 
repeal would effectually reduce the demand upon the treasury for gold by 
reducing the issuance of silver certificates. Before these relief measures 
could be made effective, however, popular opinion had already saddled upon 
the administration responsibility for the "hard times." Nevertheless the 
party in power attempted to redeem its campaign pledges by the reduction 
of the tariff, but again protected interests so amended the Wilson bill as 
practically to defeat its purpose. The general disorder of the period was 
illustrated in the "Coxey's army" movement and in various riots and 
strikes, chief of which was the Pullman Company's employees' strike. 
When United States mails were obstructed by the strikers. President Cleve- 
land suppressed the riots with national troops. 

The new industrial system not only gave rise to perplexing domestic 
problems, but also involved the government in a number of foreign difficul- 
ties. American investors in Hawaii practically dethroned the queen of the 
islands, and looked forward to annexation by the United States. President 
Cleveland believed that such an act would violate well-established national 
policy toward foreign powers, and cancelled a practical protectorate over 
the islands. The trouble arising between Great Britain and Venezuela 



530 A NEW CRISIS 

prepared the way for the extension of commerce with the South American 
states. The cUmax of the period was reached in the presidential election 
of 1896. Expanding business felt itself restrained by an inelastic monetary 
system. The silver interests of the West attributed the depression, and 
especially the decline of their chief product, to the repeal of the Sherman 
Silver Purchase Act. They saw their relief in the doctrine of free silver at 
the ratio of 16 to i and succeeded in inducing the Democratic party, the 
"Silver RepubUcans," and the "Populists" to incorporate the doctrine into 
their platforms. All of these parties endorsed William J. Bryan for presi- 
dent. Opposed to this doctrine was that of the single, or gold, standard, 
supported by the regular Republicans under the leadership of William 
McKinley, and the gold standard Democrats under John M. Palmer. 
After the most thorough campaign in the national history, McKinley was 
elected. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What was the peculiar situation of the country in 1893? Give two reasons for 
it. 2. What were President Cleveland's plans for relief? Did they work out? 

3. Did the issuance of United States bonds contribute in any way to the "hard 
times" of Cleveland's second administration? Did the tariff revision so contribute? 

4. What kind of tariff measure was the Wilson bill as passed by the House? Why 
did it not pass the Senate in the same form? 5. Compare the history of the Wilson 
bill with that of the Underwood measure of 1913. 6. Can you see in the defence 
of a protective tariff a principle similar to that involved in the South's defence of 
slavery? What vital difference can you see? 7. What good reason can be offered 
for telling the story of "General" Coxey in connection with a protective tariff dis- 
cussion? 8. How did the suppression of the labor riot in Chicago affect the outlook 
of the Democratic party in regard to the next election? 9. Name two serious 
problems which this riot brought to the surface again. 10. Show how the Hawaiian 
incident was a result of expanding industry. 11. How did the Venezuela case 
affect national influence abroad? How was the Monroe Doctrine involved in it? 
12. What became of the income tax law of 1895? Has such a measure been before 
the country since that time? 13. What vital issue did both of the great political 
conventions have to face in 1896? Which .side did each take? 14. How did the 
campaign of 1896 differ from previous campaigns? 15. Could the "Populist" 
party be considered a natural result of the new age of business? Discuss. 16. Why 
were the West and the South in such a state of political upheaval during the decade 
ending in 1900? 



CHAPTER XXX 
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

REFERENCES 

Green, War with Spain; Lamed, History of the American People; Life of Mc- 
Kinley; School Histories; Contemporary Magazine Articles. 

CONDITIONS IN CUBA 

Through geographical position Cuba, in time of war, would 635. The 
threaten the control of the Mississippi river and the Panama Hillt of'the 
canal. On account of its proximity to the American continent, United 
and its similarity of climate and soil to the southern parts of q^^^ ^°^ 
the United States, its political, social, and commercial affairs 
had long been matters of importance to American citizens. 
Many had become financially interested in the cotton, sugar, 
rice, tobacco, and other products and industries of the island; 
and after the United States obtained possession of the Gulf 
coast frequent offers had been made by the United States to 
purchase the island from Spain. As early as 1809 Jefferson had 
written the president, Mr. Madison, that he believed that 
Napoleon, at that moment dominating Spain, might be induced 
to part with Cuba, and that he, Jefferson, would like to see the 
island come into the possession of the United States. Later 
President Polk offered Spain one hundred million dollars for 
Cuba, but Spain persistently refused to consider the proposal. 
The Ostend Manifesto (431) declared that Cuba ought to belong 
to the United States and if Spain would not sell it, the United 
States would be justified in seizing it. After 1849 occasional 
filibustering expeditions, assisting the native insurrectionists, 
attempted the seizure of the island from Spain. The fili- 
busters were financed and directed by "juntas" composed of 
Cubans naturalized in America, or the United States, and by 

531 



532 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

Americans financially interested in Cuba. President Cleveland 
issued a message warning all persons that the American govern- 
ment would not support or countenance one unfriendly act 
toward the Spanish government; and at the same time he 
urged Spain to change her policies in reference to Cuba. In 
President Harrison's administration, Secretary of State Blaine 
urged that Cuba be allowed to purchase its freedom, the United 
States to guarantee the payment of the price. President Mc- 
Kinley pointed out to the government of Spain the deplorable 
conditions existing on the island. 
636. Spain's In 1808, when Napoleon forced the abdication of the Spanish 

oppressive ^-^onarch, the Cubans declared their allegiance to their de- 
rule; 1493- ' 
1898 throned sovereign, and contributed men and money to the 

national defence, but they were forgotten by Spain when peace 
was restored. In 1830 the island was put under a governor 
general, responsible only to Spain. The whole machinery of 
the government was run in the interests of the officers, and every 
office of emolument was held by a Spaniard; yet the natives 
outnumbered the Spaniards five to one. The deplorable con- 
dition of the people of the island at the close of the nineteenth 
century was in great part due to oppressive and official misrule 
and corruption. Larger and larger revenues were demanded 
and the burdens of the suffering people became still heavier. 
Before the war for independence, the estimated "revenues and 
disbursements amounted to about $25,000,000 per year, of 
which the Spanish officials in the island took $4,000,000, the 
army S6,ooo,ooo, interest on the old Spanish national debt 
$10,000,000, pensions $2,200,000, treasury administration 
$708,000, judiciary $995,000, and so on, all the money being 
absorbed by the Spaniards except $725,000 for internal improve- 
ments, harbors, etc. Not a cent was spent for primary educa- 
tion. Then there was always an annual deficit of from eight 
to ten million dollars to be made up by the issuance of Cuban 
bonds." Attempts to improve conditions gave the government 
more completely into the hands of the Spaniards, for the poll 
tax of twenty-five dollars eliminated the native element from 



CONDITIONS IN CUBA 



533 



all elections. The last proposed reform was a Council of 

Administration which was to have fifteen members appointed 

by the king and fifteen elected by Cuba. Of this election the 

Spanish officials had control and the governor general was to 

be president, with power to remove any member of the 

council at his discretion. 

From 1868, the beginning of the Ten Years' war, to the out- 637. The 

break of the Spanish-American war, Cuba had not been free insurrec- 
tions 
from insurrection. In 1895 ^ more closely-organized revolt 

followed under Gomez and Maceo. General Weyler, who, 

during the Ten Years' war, had earned the name of "The 

Butcher," was brought from the Philippines to subdue the 

Cubans, He ordered the crops to be destroyed and the people, 

together with all domestic animals from the country, to be 

concentrated in camps in or near the large towns and cities. 

Thousands of people died from hunger, exposure and fever. 

The prisons were filled with suspects, many of whom were 

Americans. 




U. S. Battleship " Maine " 



On the night of February 15, 1898, the United States battle- 638. De- 
ship Maine, which had been sent to Havana harbor to protect t^g"*^u°s°' 
the interests of Americans, was destroyed and two hundred and battleship 
fifty of her crew were killed. Investigation showed that a sub- ^*'°^ ' 
marine mine had caused the explosion.^ 

1 Experts again declared in igi2, after the ship was raised to the top of the 
water, that an outside explosion caused an explosion of the magazines. 



534 



THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 



639. Presi- 
dent Mc- 
Kinley's 



Humanity, love of liberty, and self-interest would doubtless 
have caused the United States to intervene in the course of 
events, but the tragedy of the Maine hastened action. Weyler 
had been pre\'iously recalled, and other forms of reUef were 
promised, but it was too late. 

Again, President McKinley ai)pealed to the Spanish govern- 
ment in behalf of the Cubans, and received the reply that they 
message in would be "granted all the liberty they could expect." Congress 
Cuba ordered a more thorough investigation of conditions in Cuba 

than had yet been made. After the report of the commission 
had been received. President McKinley sent a special message 
to Congress, April ii, 1S9S. Without committing himself to the 
insurgent cause he calmly reviewed the situation, and added, 
"In view of these facts and considerations, I ask Congress to 
authorize and empower the president to take measures to secure 
a final termination of hostilities between the government of 
Spain and the people of Cuba, and to secure in the island the 
establishment of a stable go\-ernment capable of maintaining 
order and observing its internal obligations, insuring peace and 
tranquillity and the security of its citizens, as well as our own, 
and to use the military and naval forces of the United States 
as may be necessary for these purposes." 



640. Reso- 
lutions of 
Congress; 
war 



THE PHILIPPINES 

On April 19 Congress passed a joint resolution: (i) declaring 
that Cuba ought to be free and independent; (2) demanding 
the withdrawal of Spain from the island; (3) empowering the 
president to use sufficient force to carry out these resolutions; 
(4) it further declared that it was not the intention of the 
United States to exercise sovereignty or control or to encourage 
annexation, but instead, when independence was established, to 
leave the government to the people of the island. The Spanish 
minister at Washington was notified and was given his pass- 
ports. The resolutions were also wired to the American minis- 
ter at Madrid, but he had already been notified by the Spanish 
government that diplomatic relations were severed. These 



THE PHILIPPINES 



535 



resolutions were tantamount to a declaration of war; volun- 
teers were called out, and in a few weeks regiments from every 
section of the country were training in camps, while the regular 
army was being mobilized at Chickamauga and Tampa to be 
ready for transportation to Cuba, and a blockade of Cuban 
ports was ordered. 

Commodore Dewey, who was at Hong Kong, was instructed 641. Naval 
to "iind and destroy" the Spanish Asiatic fleet. The American ManUa°bay, 

squadron entered Manila bay Saturday night, April 30. With May 1,1898: 
, Manila oc- 

cupied, Au- 
gust 13 




Manila and the Pasig River 

Showing the Magellan monument and the stone bridge connecting the walled city 
with Binondo 



all lights out and each gun manned, half the fleet had passed 
the fortifications before the ships were discovered. The guns 
from the forts then opened fire, while frequently an immense 
volume of water shot into the air showing where a submarine 
mine had been exploded. The Spanish fleet was sighted under 
the guns of Cavite, one of the forts that guard the bay and 
the city of Manila. The American ships passed "line ahead" 
to the attack. As they neared Cavite a shell exploded directly 
over the flagship; at once rose the cry of "Remember the 
Maine" from the entire crew. Dewey gave orders to return 
the fire, and in a few hours of battle the Spaniards had lost their 
entire fleet, while the Americans had received no serious damage 



536 



THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 



to a ship. Not a man had been killed and only eight slightly 
wounded. The Spaniards fought bravely; they did not lack 
guns, ammunition, or modern equipment, but the inefficiency 
of Spain's corrupt government was such that her gunners had 
not been properly trained. 

On the next day the American fleet established a blockade of 
Manila and occupied Cavite. The naval victory could not be 
followed up by the occupation of the city for lack of a sufficient 
force to hold the place. Land forces had to be sent from America, 
Three months later General Merritt arrived with ten thousand 
troops, and the city was taken August 13, the next day after 
the signing of the protocol, or preliminary peace treaty. 



642. Samp- 
son and 
Schley in 
the West 
Indies; Cer- 
vera blocked 
in Santiago; 
Hobson and 
the "Merri- 
mac " 



THE WEST INDIES 

Admiral Sampson was sent to the West Indies, while Com- 
modore Schley, in charge of the flying scjuadron, was left at 
Hampton Roads to protect the American coast. As a further 

protection, mines were laid in every 
harbor along the coast from Maine 
to the Rio Grande. 

Soon after hostilities began, a Span- 
ish fleet under Admiral Ccrvera was 
reported to have sailed from St. Vin- 
cent for America. Great excitement 
prevailed in the cities on the At- 
lantic coast, for no one knew the 
destination of the Spanish fleet. 
Escaping the \-igilance of Sampson, 
Cervera's fleet entered Santiago har- 
bor. May 19. Positive knowledge of 
its presence there was given by Lieutenant Blue, who passed the 
Spanish lines and saw the fleet at anchor in the harbor. Samp- 
son, reenforced by Schley, closed the port, and Cervera was shut 
in. Just prior to this the American fleet had been joined by 
the battleship Oregon that had been ordered from San Francisco, 
making a journey of fourteen thousand miles in sixty-six days. 




William T. Sampson 



THE WEST INDIES 537 

The entrance to Santiago harbor is a narrow strait between 
two precipitous mountains. Lieutenant Hobson conceived the 
idea of blocking the harbor by sinking the coalship, Merrimac, 
across the channel. At three o'clock one morning Hobson with 
six men ran the ship under the guns of the Morro castle, and 
entered the narrow channel, but before reaching the desired 
position they were fired upon by a picket boat, their rudder was 
shot away, and the ship became unmanageable. The explosives 
were fired to sink the ship; and the crew, scrambled to a raft 
where they remained until daylight, when they were picked 
up by the gallant Cervera, who sent word to Sampson that 
they were safe. They were kindly treated and later were ex- 
changed. 

An army of sixteen thousand men under General Shafter was 643. Schley 
at once sent to Cuba to attack Santiago in the rear and to q^^^°^^, 
cooperate with the fleet. Before the city was captured, Cer- fleet, July 3 
vera, acting under orders from his home government, tried to 
get out to sea by running the gant- 
let of the American fleet. On July 
3, while the American crew were at 
quarters and Sampson had gone in 
his flagship to consult with General 
Shafter, the Spanish flagship was 
sighted coming out of the harbor, 
followed by the rest of the fleet. 
Commodore Schley started in pursuit. 
In three-quarters of an hour of a 
running fight it was clear that the 

Spanish fleet w^ould be compelled to „, o ' o 

^ , ^ WiNFiELD Scott Schley 

surrender. One ship had already been 

beached and half the others were on fire. Admiral Cervera's 
flagship, the last of the fleet, burst into flames and was run 
aground. Ofiicers and crew surrendered. Spain had lost two 
fleets and over a thousand men in Httle over two months. On 
the American side one man had been killed and one wounded, 
while ten thousand dollars covered the damage to the ships. 




538 



THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 



644. Land 
attacks ; 
surrender 
of Santiago, 
July 17; 
surrender 
of Porto 
Rico 



The deadly fire of the Americans showed the training of the 
men behind the guns, as it had done at Manila. 

Admiral Sampson joined the squadron just as the last Spanish 
ship was destroyed, and Schley at once reported to him the 
result of the conflict. After the war there was a bitter con- 
troversy over the action of Schley in this battle and during the 
blockade. He demanded a Court of Inquiry to investigate his 
conduct and on several counts he was acquitted, but was con- 
demned on others. He appealed to the president for vindica- 
tion and received assurance that the findings of the Court were 
final; but he was vindicated by the American people, and to 
them he is the hero of the naval battle before Santiago. 

Santiago harbor is six miles long and is surrounded by pre- 
cipitous mountains that rise straight from the water. At its 

head, between two mountain ranges, 
lies the walled city of Santiago, 
guarded by the fortified positions 
of Aguadores, San Juan, and El 
Caney. The American plan was a 
joint attack by the army and na\'y 
on these three towns. General Law- 
ton was to take El Caney, General 
Wheeler's cavalry was given the dif- 
ficult task of taking San Juan, while 
General Duffield was to act in direct 
conjunction with the fleet in the cap- 
ture of Aguadores. In these move- 
ments the Americans were to be sup- 
ported by the Cuban soldiers, but on account of their lack of 
military training, they were a negligible factor during the entire 
war. The Spanish soldiers contested every inch of the ground, 
but in July the heights above the city had been carried. El 
Caney and San Juan had been taken after heavy losses in des- 
perate charges; and when Cervera made his dash for liberty, 
General Shafter and Admiral Sampson were in consultation on 
the feasibility of inaction until reenforcements could be brought 




D'—'J-*'- V- '-- 



Joseph Wheeler 



THE UNITED STATES A WORLD POWER 



539 



from the United States. But the destruction of the Spanish 
fleet on July 3 left Spain's cause hopeless, and a few days later 
General Toral, in command at Santiago, surrendered "the city 
and province of Santiago de Cuba into the authority of the 
United States (July 17)." The Cuban soldiers were to be treated 
as prisoners of war by the American general. 

The protocol that was signed on August 12 stopped the 
operations of General Miles in Porto Rico, and the governor 
at once surrendered the island. 

THE UNITED STATES A WORLD POWER 
The American soldiers had performed well their duty in every 645. A 
situation — in camp, along the march through the jungles under the°War° 
a tropical sun, in the charge, and in the trenches. But the Depart- 
inefhciency of the war department is a dark blot upon the ™*°* 
picture. Secretary of War Alger's administration was investi- 
gated by a commission appointed by the president and, al- 
though he was exonerated, the fact remains that lack of proper 
equipment, suitable clothing, pure food, and sanitation in the 
camps, caused more deaths than occurred on the field of battle, 
or from wounds received. 

The peace commissioners met at Paris, December 10, 1898. ^*^- '^^^ 
Since the city of Manila was not captured till the day after the peace 
protocol was signed, Spain charged that the United States had 
broken the terms of agreement. There was much discussion 
among the commissioners before an agreement was reached, but 
the final terms did not change the terms of the protocol. Spain 
should relinquish all claim to Cuba and cede Porto Rico and 
three small islands, and Guam of the Ladrones, to the United 
States, and in consideration of twenty million dollars, grant all 
right and title to the Philippines. 

A successful revolution was terminated in Hawaii and the 647. Ha- 
new government applied to the United States for annexation, ng^ed — 
On account of the importance of the island as a coaling station 1898 
and naval base, as well as the large interests which Americans 
had acquired there. Congress by joint resolution declared iu 



540 



THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 



648. 



favor of annexation, and Hawaii became an American de- 
pendency. 
Agui- There had been continued restiveness in the PhiUppines under 



Tn the Phil- Spanish military government. The islands had been in revolt 

ippines before war was declared, but Aguinaldo, the native leader, had 

been bought off by Spain, and had left the country. Dewey, 

however, picked him up at Hong Kong, and brought him back 

to Manila; and his Filipino army cooperated with the American 




" The Crossroads of the Pacific " 



troops in the assault against Manila. When peace was declared 
he believed the island would be granted independence. Dis- 
appointed in this hope, he set up a government and made war 
on the American forces. His army was soon broken up into 
little bands, and guerilla warfare was carried on for more than 
two years. After the capture of Aguinaldo, in March, 1901, he 
issued a manifesto urging submission to American authority. 
The last insurgent leader surrendered in April, 1902. 

There was much dissatisfaction over the conduct of the war 
in the Philippines. Many of the political leaders in America 
government opposed the acquisition of any territory that could not become 



649. Im 
perialism ; 
a state 



THE UNITED STATES A WORLD POWER 541 

an integral part of the Union. Moreover, they contended that established 
the United States violated the spirit of the Constitution whenj -^gg. 
it undertook to govern a people "without the consent of the the tariff 
governed." One of the main issues of McKinley's second cam- 
paign for the presidency was that of "Imperialism." His large 
popular vote revealed the attitude of the people toward that 
policy. In March Congress conferred upon the president "all 
the military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern the 
Philippine Islands." The army was greatly increased and 
Judge William H. Taft was sent over to be civil governor 
(July 4, igoi). He was assisted by four commissioners ap- 
pointed by the president, who were placed in charge of commerce, 
public works, justice, finance, and education. Three Filipinos 
were soon added to this commission. Four years later a Philip- 
pine National Assembly was elected, which was to act in the 
capacity of a lower house to the commission. The professed 
policy of the administration was to grant the Filipino inde- 
pendence as soon as "he is fit for it," but when that shall be is 
a question for the future to answer. The United States has 
spent vast sums in the islands on internal improvements, 
building bridges and roads, improving rivers and harbors, and 
fostering commerce and agriculture. The friars owned 400,000 
acres of land that was purchased for $7,200,000 and sold to the 
natives on easy payments. A modern system of education has 
been organized, and hundreds of teachers have been sent over 
to take charge of the schools. 

After Spain withdrew from Cuba a military governor was 
appointed by the president. His main work in the island was 
to improve sanitary conditions (for which purpose ten million 
dollars has been expended), establish schools, and aid in internal 
improvements. The next year, 1902, a constitution, patterned 
after that of the United States, was adopted. Four clauses 
demanded by Congress were incorporated into the document: 
(i) No foreign power would be allowed to control the island, 
plant colonies, or interfere with its independence. (2) No debt 
must be incurred that could not be easily taken care of by 



542 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

revenue. (3) Cuba must sell or lease to the United States certain 
coaling stations. (4) If necessary to maintain a stable govern- 
ment at any time, the United States might intervene to protect 
life and property. 

The high tariff wall which Congress built around the newly 
acquired islands retarded their commercial growth for some 




San Juan Harbor 

View from Casa Bianca, Ponce de Leon's house 

years. Recently free trade has been granted on all products 
except rice, sugar, and tobacco, and since then their exports have 
greatly increased. 
650 Porto In 1900 Porto Rico's government was vested in a governor 
ernmem°^ and council of eleven, five of them Porto Ricans, all of them 
appointed by the President. There is also a legislature of 
thirty-live members elected by the people, but the Council holds 
the veto power over them. There are a million native inhabi- 
tants, consisting of mixed Spanish, Indian, and negro blood. 



SUMMARY AND QUESTIONS 543 

It now seems probable that Porto Rico will never enjoy the 
privilege of statehood. 

SUMMARY 

Spain's treatment of Cuba became intolerable to the American people, 
for reasons of sentiment as well as interest. American capital had found 
investment in mines and agriculture on the island and cried aloud for pro- 
tection by the United States; but Spain acted as though she felt that how 
she treated her own province should give no concern to a foreign power, 
and she showed resentment when offers were made for the purchase of 
Cuba. The disaster to the Maine precipitated war. Dewey's fleet de- 
stroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay. Sampson and Schley destroyed 
the Spanish fleet at Santiago de Cuba. The land forces under Shafter 
attacked the intrenchments of Santiago, and the Spanish army was sur- 
rendered. Manila was occupied. The treaty of peace gave the United 
States possessions in the Atlantic and in the Pacific. The governments 
of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Pliilippines were reorganized. Cuba became 
independent. 

REVIEW QUESTION? 

I. Discuss the moral quality of America's attempted intervention between 
Spain and her colony. 2. What was the Ostend Manifesto? Why did Spain re- 
fuse to part with Cuba? Why did she treat the island harshly? 3. Discuss three 
possible causes of the destruction of the Maine. 4. What right had Spain to sell 
the Philippine Islands? What right had the United States to buy them? 5. What 
right had Aguinaldo to make war on the Americans in the Philippines? 6. Discuss: 
The Filipinos will never be capable of self-government until they practice it. 7. 
Why are the words Filipino and Philippines spelled so differently? 8. Cleveland 
refused to annex Hawaii : the Congress under McKinley annexed Hawaii. Discuss. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

REFERENCES 

Secondary Authorities. — Lamed, History for Ready Reference, vol. vii; Wilson, 
Division and Reunion; The New International Year Books; The Current Periodicals. 

Sources. — Political Party Platforms; The Constitution and Reports of the 
various social, industrial, economic, and political organizations of the last decade; 
Congressional Records; Reports of the various Departments of the United States 
Government, etc. 

ROOSEVELT AND CONSERVATION 

651. Death The Pan-American Exposition was held at Buffalo, in the 
dent'^M^c- summer and autumn of 1901, for the purpose of "joining the 
Kinley three Americas in a unified attempt to show one another their 

trade resources." Like other expositions it was attended by 
miUions of people and, also like others, it was a powerful 
educative factor, particularly along industrial lines. But it 
was the business man's show, and from it the business man 
derived most profit. President McKinley spoke at the exposi- 
tion in furtherance of the continued good-will among the Ameri- 
can republics and the maintenance of friendly trade relations, 
and he gave expression to the needs and interests of American 
industry no less than to his own pacific nature and his desire 
for universal peace. 

It was his last public address. On September 6th, the day 
following his speech before the exposition. President McKinley 
was shot by a half-crazed assassin named Czolgosz. For eight 
days he lingered between life and death. On the morning of 
September 14 he died, and in the afternoon Vice-President 
Theodore Roose^'elt took the oath of office as president of the 
United States, and the strenuous Rough Rider became the star 
performer on our national stage for many a day. 

544 



ROOSEVELT AND CONSERVATION 



545 



Theodore Roosevelt was born of Dutch paternal ancestry in 652. The 

new Dr6si~ 
the city of New York, October 26, 1858. Graduating at Har- dent — 1901 

vard at 21 years of age, he soon entered the politics of New York, 
and was elected to the legislature in 1883. He was a member 
of the Republican National Convention of 1884, where he fought 
side by side with the Mug- 
wumps to defeat the nomina- 
tion of James G. Blaine for 
the presidency. On account of 
failing health he next sought 
the western plains of North 
Dakota, and there spent two 
years in "punching" cattle and 
writing books. In 1889 he was 
appointed by President Harri- 
son to a place on the Civil 
Service Commission, where he 
made a reputation as an advo- 
cate of the "merit system" in 
appointments to public offices. 
In 1897 he became assistant 

secretary of the navy, but resigned the next year to serve as 
lieutenant colonel of cavalry in the operations in Cuba. Re- 
turning from Santiago as the hero of the Rough Riders, he was 
elected governor of New York in 1898. In this capacity he 
was too active for the politicians of his state, who thought they 
were ridding themselves of danger from him by forcing upon 
him in 1900 the nomination for the vice-presidency. 

President Roosevelt announced that he would pursue the 
policies outlined by his lamented predecessor, and he retained 
the McKinley cabinet. 

The student will remember that although the Teffersonian 653. The 

new (l6* 

Democracy stood for a government in which the people are to mocracy; 

participate freely, it also preached that "that government is 'direct 

best which governs least." That the new democracy believes senators; 

even more strongly than the old in the capacity of the people *^® income 

tax 




Theodore Roosevelt 



546 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 



654. Roose- 
velt on for- 
ests and 
irrigation 



for self-government is shown by the ratification (1913) of the 
constitutional amendment providing for the election of United 
States senators by direct vote; and that the new democracy 
beUeves still further that every branch, phase, and part of gov- 
ernmental, social, and economical power is responsible to all the 
people is shown by the ratification (1913) of the amendment to 

the constitution which 
provides for an income 
tax. The new democracy 
also believes that under 
the present complex bus- 
iness organization, in 
which the tendency to 













— ^s- 




I'lCAN. 



\' ■^'"x. ; V A I" 1 

>. -^^^ .' -A-/- X". v.i. ! 




monopolize is very 
strong, the government 
must very greatly en- 
large the scope of its 
activities if the people 
are to continue to be 
free in the enjoyment of 
equal opportunities and 
in the pursuit of the 
fuller life. This is the 
fundamental idea back 
of the national policy of 
conservation — the pol- 
icy of reclaiming deserts, 
preserving forests, and conserving mineral deposits. In other 
words, the new democracy believes that the natural resources 
of a country should be used for the good of all the people. 

The first vigorous and comprehensive effort toward caring for 
the "people's domain" was made by President Roosevelt. In 
his first message to Congress (December 3, 1901) he showed a 
broad sympathy with the whole field of conservation, urging at 
considerable length that "the preservation of our forests is an 
imperative business necessity," and that "the western half of 



Ikkigation Centers of the West 



ROOSEVELT AND CONSERVATION 



547 



the United States would sustain a population greater than that 
of our whole country to-day if the waters that now run to waste 
were saved and used for irrigation." On June 17, 1902, Con- 
gress passed the Reclamation Act — a measure which had for 
its purpose the irrigation of arid lands in the West by the use 
of funds derived from the sale of public lands in Arizona, Cali- 
fornia, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New 
Mexico, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Washing- 
ton, and Wyoming. Under this act the Department of the 




The black portions indicate the Western reserves; the shaded sections show 
the Appalachian and White Mountain reserves 

Interior undertook immediately the work of reclaiming the 
desert. The work has been enlarged from time to time and 
to-day many thousands of acres of formerly unproductive land 
are pouring their treasures of fruit, vegetables, and grains into 
the lap of the nation. 

In December, 1904, President Roosevelt again urged upon 655. The 
Congress the importance of forest conservation. In the follow- poi-est^g. 
ing February Congress placed the entire forest ser\dce under serves 
the Department of Agriculture. In 1907 by a proclamation of 
the president, 17,000,000 acres of forest lands were added to 
the National Forest Reserves which had been previously set 



inland 
waterways 



548 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

aside. In 1909 these lands totaled the enormous sum of 
194,505,325 acres, most of which ^•ast area was under govern- 
mental control. This, however, is less than twenty per cent 
of the total forest area in the United States. In immediate 
charge of this timber land is the National Forest Service, 
employing, in 1910, 3636 persons, and expending more than 
$4,000,000. In addition to preserving the forests, efforts are 
being made to extend them, to find new uses for the various 
timbers, and to utilize odd lengths of lumber. A very general 
public interest in forestry has been aroused, and numerous local 
and national organizations have held important meetings with 
a view of promoting conservation in every legitimate way. 

656. The Springing from the same idea is a plan to develop and utilize 
more perfectly the inland waterways. In March, 1907, Presi- 
dent Roosevelt appointed " The Inland Waterways Commission," 

which immediately began the study of a "Lakes- to- the-Gulf 
Deep Waterway." Interest in all the problems of waterways 
continued throughout 1908, and in 1909 the National Rivers 
and Harbors Congress in annual session at Washington urged 
upon the Congress of the United States the necessity of an 
appropriation of $50,000,000 for river and harbor improve- 
ments. In 1910 the Mississippi River Commission expended 
more than two and a quarter millions of dollars on the develop- 
ment of internal waterways. Since this time the public has 
been forced to take a broad view of the interests invohed 
and the possibilities of national development of the streams. 
The floods of March, 1913, have been no small factor in con- 
vincing the public that the navigable rivers need not only to 
be improved, but that the interests of the whole country can be 
materially served by protecting the fertile valleys from excessive 
and destructive overflows. 

THE PANAMA CANAL 

657. Early The great industrial and commercial expansion of the United 
an isth- States following the Civil War emphasized the necessity of a 
mian canal transportation route in the region of the isthmus. In 1878 a 



THE PANAMA CANAL 549 

French company, under the leadership of the engineer who had 
constructed the Suez canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps, obtained 
from Colombia permission to dig a canal across the Isthmus of 
Panama. President Hayes, in a message to Congress, pointed 
out the advantages of an inter-oceanic canal, and the next year 
James G. Blaine, secretary of state, seeking closer trade rela- 
tions with the states of South America, called the attention of 
the country to the interest of the United States in the Panama 
canal. At the same time he endeavored to abrogate the 
Clayton-Bulwer treaty (415). In 1884 a New York company 
was organized for the purpose of constructing a canal across 
Nicaragua. The French company, after spending $260,000,000, 
failed in 1888, but retained its property in the isthmus and the 
right to complete the canal. 

In the Spanish-American War it became desirable to send the 658, The 

Oregon 
battleship Oregon from San Francisco to support the Atlantic 

fleet in the West Indies — a distance of nearly fifteen thousand 
miles. The acquisition of the Philippines and part of the West 
Indies further emphasized the necessity in time of war for a 
trans-isthmian route. Another reason had been added to the 
commercial one; and the whole country had been made keenly 
aware of the imperative need for shortening the distance be- 
tween the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

The initial step taken by the United States government in the 659. The 
work was the appointment by Congress (1899) of a special Pauncefote 
commission to investigate the comparative merits of the Panama Treaty 
and the Nicaragua routes. This body reported (1901) in favor 
of Nicaragua. About the same time Secretary of State John 
Hay induced Great Britain to renounce the- Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty, and to agree that the United States should have the 
right to construct and control an isthmian canal. This agree- 
ment is called the Hay-Patmcefote treaty. Its preamble states 
a purpose "to facilitate the construction of a ship-canal to 
connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, by whatever route may 
be considered expedient, and to that end to remove any objec- 
tion which may arise out of the convention of the 19th of April, 



550 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 



660. The 
Hay-Bu- 
nau-Varilla 
Treaty 



661. Signi- 
ficance of 
the canal 



1850, commonly called the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, to the con- 
struction of such canal under the auspices of the government 
of the United States, without impairing the general principle of 
neutralization established in Article VIII of that convention." 
In June, 1901, Congress, after some sharp debating, expressed 
its preference for the Panama route, provided the president 
could get control of the necessary zone "within a reasonable 
time and upon reasonable terms;" if not, then the president 
was to proceed with the construction of a Nicaragua canal. 

The French Panama company was now offering its property 
and rights in Panama for the sum of $40,000,000. President 
Roosevelt, under authority from Congress, accepted the offer 
and proceeded to negotiate what is commonly known as the 
Hay-Herran treaty (August, 1903), which would give to the 
United States the right to construct the canal in return for 
$10,000,000 in cash and $250,000 a year as rental for a land strip 
ten miles wide across Panama. Colombia, a confederation of 
which the state of Panama was a member, rejected this treaty, 
and in a few weeks a revolution was started on the isthmus 
which resulted in the establishment of the republic of Panama. 
Whatever may have been the cause of the secession of Panama, 
it was supported by the presence of United States marines 
instructed to prevent the landing of military forces in the state. 
The revolution occurred on November 3; three days later the 
United States government officially recognized the independence 
of Panama; and on November 18, a treaty was entered into 
between the new republic and the United States,^ Panama 
having sent Senor Bunau-Varilla to Washington to conduct 
negotiations for the completion of the canal. By the Hay- 
Bunau-Varilla treaty, November 18, 1903, Panama accepted 
substantially the terms of the Hay-Herran agreement, with the 
important exception that the canal zone ten miles wide became 
the exclusive property of the United States. 

In May, 1904, actual construction was begun; and the work 
has progressed so well that Chief Engineer Goethals expects to 

1 Colombia has never ceased to lay upon President Roosevelt and the 
American people the responsibility for the secession of Panama. 



THE PANAMA CANAL 



551 



complete it in 19 14. Preparations are being made to celebrate 
the great event in a Panama exposition at San Francisco in the 
summer of 1915. 

The completion of the canal is significant for the student of 
history. Among the great achievements of mankind, it has 
already had a marked effect in stimulating interest in engineer- 
ing science. New projects are undertaken; the Erie canal is 
being greatly improved; even an additional isthmian route 
through Nicaragua has been suggested. 




The Route of the Panama Canal 



The most noticeable immediate effect of the canal will be the 
change in the quantity and direction of international trade. 
The distances from New York and London to all the markets 
on the western coasts of America, and also to the islands of the 
Pacific, will be greatly reduced. A distance as great as the 
width of the Atlantic ocean will be saved between New York 
and Yokohama, while the broad Pacific will scarcely equal the 
reduction in the distance by water from New York to San 
Francisco. An air line from Portland, Maine, to Brownsville, 
Texas, is only half as long as the distance the canal will save 
between Galveston and San Francisco. The saving in time and 
money will be in proportion. The effect upon international 
trade cannot even be imagined; and for American industry and 
commerce only the eye of a prophet can foresee the future. 
Certainly Southern ports and Southern cities will have a 



552 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

marvelous growth; industries at the South must inevitably be 
strongly organized and more varied; while with increased 
material development will surely come a whole train of social 
and economic problems hitherto unknown to the Southern 
people. Proximity to the South American states and a re- 
sultant increased business in them will inevitably bring new 
international problems that may revolutionize existing relations 
and put the Monroe Doctrine to a new test. 

THE PROBLEM OF THE CORPORATIONS 

662. The The great corporate industries had forced a new problem upon 

l'f,^^,?o *°' the government and people of the United States. Infants that 
gerous '^ ' ' 

power had been protected had become giants; and the question now 

concerned the preservation of the repubUc, which, no less than 
a monarchy, must refuse to tolerate within itself the existence 
of insubordinate power. The truism that large capital, right- 
fully employed, is advantageous to producer and consumer gave 
complacency, and the second election of McKinley (1900) gave 
endorsement to "big business," which prepared to make the 
most of the circumstances. Already in the last two years of 
McKinley's first administration nearly two hundred new trusts 
had been formed with a combined capital of $4,000,000,000 — 
"an amount of money equal to one-twentieth of the total wealth 
of the United States, and four times the combined capital of all 
the corporations organized between the Civil War and Cleve- 
land's second administration."^ The great combinations had 
maintained in power a party which had enabled them through 
tariff laws to enter the markets of the world and compete suc- 
cessfully with foreign enterprise. The nation's export business 
had suddenly doubled, trebled, and quadrupled, and had gained 
for us a favorable trade balance. The farm and mine products 
had broken all previous records, population had increased 
rapidly, prices were good, and prosperity abounded. There 
was a great opportunity for corporate greed — "a time when 
America had set about her task of making commercial vassals 

1 Muzzey, American Uislory, p. 591, 



THE PROBLEM OF THE CORPORATIONS 553 

of the Old World countries," even if it took the life blood of the 
American people to do it. 

In his first message to Congress, President Roosevelt reviewed 663. Roose- 
the conditions which had given rise to the agitation concerning monopo- 
corporations and trusts, and especially pointed out "over capi- lies; De- 
talization" as an evil to be corrected. In the following summer comnferce 
he declared that "the State not only has the right to control and Labor 
monopolies, but that it is the State's duty to control them." 
His next message to Congress (1903), asserted that "no more 
important subject can come before the Congress than this of 
the regulation of interstate business. This country cannot 
afford to sit supine on the plea that under our peculiar systems 
of government we are helpless in the presence of the new con- 
ditions, and unable to grapple with them or to cut out whatever 
of evil has arisen in connection with them." The president 
went on to urge upon Congress its constitutional authority to 
deal with this problem, and recommended as an initial step — 
"knowledge of facts — pubUcity." 

In all of these utterances the president simply voiced a strong 
current of pubUc opinion and Congress responded with the 
passage of a law creating the Department of Commerce and 
Labor, "including the Bureau of Corporations, with for the 
first time authority to secure proper publicity of such proceed- 
ings of these great corporations as the public has the right to 
know. It [Congress] has provided for the expediting of suits 
for the enforcement of the federal anti-trust law; and by another 
law it has secured equal treatment to all producers in the trans- 
portation of their goods, thus taking a long stride forward in 
making effective the work of the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission." ^ 

While these vigorous messages from the president, and this 664. Utica 
new kind of legislation by Congress were seeking to regulate secretary 
corporate industry, the combinations of capital and brains were Root— 1906 
growing in numbers and in power, and were devising new means 
of exploitation. That "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" 

* President's Message to Congress, December 7, 1903. 



554 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

was no less true now than in the days of Patrick Henry. From 
time to time, therefore, statesmen called the attention of the 
country to the dangers from coq)orate power and from time to 
time Congress sought to cope with the evil by new laws. The 
following extract from a speech at Utica, New York (November, 
1906), indicates the scope of governmental action to that time: 
"The act creating the bureau of corporations, the act expediting 
the trial of trust cases, the anti-rebate act, the act for the regu- 
lation of railroad rates, have made possible redress which was 
impossible before. Under the direction of two successive 
attorney generals of the first order of ability, sincerity, and 
devotion, in hundreds of courts, incessant warfare has been 
waged and is being waged under the federal laws against cor- 
porate wrongdoers. The Northern Securities company . . . 
has been forced to dissolve by the judgment of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. The methods of the Beef Trust 
in combining to suppress competition in the purchase of live- 
stock and the sale of meat have been tried and condemned, and 
the trust has been placed under injunction to abandon these 
practices by the judgment of the Supreme Court. The com- 
bination of paper manufacturers in the territory from Chicago 
to the Rocky mountains has been dissolved by the judgment of 
the Supreme Court, and the combination has been abandoned, 
and the price of white paper in that territory has gone down 
thirty per cent. The Retail Grocers' association in this country 
has been dissolved by a decree of the court. The elevator com- 
bination in the West has been dissolved in like manner. The salt 
combination west of the Rocky mountains has been dissolved 
by decree of the court. The Wholesale Grocers' association 
in the South, the meat combination and the lumber combina- 
tion in the West, the combination of railroads entering the city 
of St. Louis to suppress competition between the bridges and 
ferries reaching that city; the Drug Trust, which suppresses 
competition all over the country, are being vigorously pressed 
in suits brought by the federal government for their dissolu- 
tion. The salt combination has been indicted, convicted, and 



THE PROBLEM OF THE CORPORATIONS 555 

fined for failing to obey the judgment of dissolution. The Beef 
Trust has been indicted for failing to obey the injunction against 
them, and have been saved so far only by a decision that they 
had secured temporary immunity by giving evidence against 
themselves." Secretary of State Root goes on to enumerate 
the actions against the Tobacco Trust, the Fertilizer Trust, and 
the Ice Trust. 

Perhaps the most famous anti-trust suit was that against 665. The 
the Standard Oil company. In May, 1906, Commissioner of q-i^c"*^ 
Corporations James R. Garfield reported to Congress: pany 

(i) For about ten years the New England territory has been 
in control of the Standard Oil company by reason of the refusal 
of the New York, New Haven and Hartford road, and of the 
Boston and Maine road, on all but a few divisions, to pro-rate, 
i.e., to join in through rates — on oil shipped from west of the 
Hudson river, and by means of the adjustment of published 
rates. . . 

(2) The Standard Oil company has been able absolutely to 
control for many years the sale of oil in the northeastern part 
of New York and in a portion of Vermont by means of secret 
rates from its refineries at Olean and Rochester. . . 

(3) The Standard Oil company has maintained absolute 
control of almost the whole section of the country south of the 
Ohio river and east of the Mississippi, by means of secret rates 
and open discriminations in rates from Whiting, Indiana. . . 

(4) The Standard Oil company has for at least ten years 
shipped oil from Whiting to East St. Louis, Illinois, at a rate of 
six or six and one-fourth cents on three of the five railroads 
running between those places, while the only duly published 
rate on all roads has been eighteen cents during all that period. 
This discrimination saved the Standard about $240,000 in 
1904. . . 

(5) In the Kansas territory field there were some unfair open 
rates. . . 

(6) In California direct rebates, as well as discriminations by 
the use of secret rates, have been given on oil. 



556 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

As a result of this report and the recommendations of the 
president a large number of indictments were returned against 
the Standard Oil company and its various subsidiary organiza- 
tions in the several states. In Indiana the company was con- 
victed (April 14, 1907) on 1462 counts, and was fined the sum 
of $20,000 on each, or $29,240,000. The penalty, when it is 
considered that the admitted net profits of this concern during 
the years 1903, 1904, and 1905, were $81,336,994, $61,570,110, 
and $57,459,356, respectively, does not seem so enormous, for 
the capital stock was only $1,000,000. But this did not end 
the suit. It went on a writ of error to the United States Court 
of Appeals, which declared (July, 190S) that since the capital 
stock of the Standard Oil company of Indiana was "principally 
owned by the New Jersey corporation, a corj:)oration not be- 
fore the court," and since a court cannot, "without abuse of 
judicial discretion, condemn any one who has not had his day 
in court," . . . "the judgment of the District Court is reversed' 
and the case remanded with instructions to grant a new trial." 
In March, 1909, the Judge of the District Court directed the 
jury to find the Standard Oil company not guilty, and the case 
was closed. Other suits against the company were prosecuted 
with less vigor, some dismissed, and very few were successful. 

In the meantime, however, the United States Circuit Court 
at St. Louis, had declared (April, 1909) the Standard Oil com- 
pany an illegal corporation under the terms of the Sherman 
Anti-Trust Law, and had ordered its dissolution. An appeal 
was taken from this decree to the Supreme Court, and a hearing 
was given on the following March 14. After a long argument 
before this court, postponement of the decision was made on 
account of the death of Justice Brewer, the illness of Justice 
Moody, and the lack of opportunity of Justice Lurton, who had 
just been appointed, to become well acquainted with the case. 
On May 15, 1911, the case was again decided in favor of the 
government. Recently "the government has been investigat- 
ing to see if the company obeyed the order for dissolution. 
Agents for the government have so far made no report." 



ECONOMIC PROBLEMS 557 

THE TARIFF 

As a part of the story of "big business" in its relation to the 666. Pro- 
national government, the tariff becomes more than ever no- McKiniey 
torious. It will be remembered that since the first adminis- on reci- 
tration of Washington the tariff has been the subject of repeated 
controversies; that, beginning primarily as a revenue measure, 
its tendency was gradually upward, for the most part, until 
the Walker tariff of 1846; that it took on the protective idea 
more and more as the different business interests found its 
advantageous features; that the Civil War fastened protec- 
tion upon the country and made it a glaring feature of the 
Republican party's policy; that the Democrats endeavored 
unsuccessfully to make a downward revision in Cleveland's 
second administration (Wilson-Gorman Bill), and that they 
have advocated with some degree of earnestness a tariff for 
revenue only; and that the RepubUcan Dingley Tariff Bill 
further extended the protective idea by again raising the rates. 
The Spanish- American war, the interests of "big business," 
and "imperialism" kept the tariff question in the background 
in the last few years of the nineteenth century, but there was 
an undercurrent of sentiment gathering strength all the while 
which demanded that the tariff schedule be revised downward 
in the interests of the American people. In President McKin- 
Icy's last public speech (September, 1901) he said: "Reci- 
procity is the natural outgrowth of our wonderful industrial 
development under the domestic policy now firmly established. 
... If perchance some of our tariffs are no longer needed for 
revenue or to encourage and protect our industries at home, 
why should they not be employed to extend and promote our 
markets abroad?" In this can be seen at least some faint 
glimmerings of an idea that was already striving in the minds 
of even stanch Republicans; but these words from the chief 
executive had little effect. 

The Democrats made tariff revision an issue in the prcsi- 667. Tariff 
dential election of 1904, but the popularity of the Rough Rider 



558 



THE NEW DEMOCRACY 



president, and the business interests which the Republican 
party had always protected were too great to be overcome. 
The public mind was being educated, however, and Presi- 
dent Roosevelt himself negotiated certain reciprocity treaties 
which the Senate refused to ratify. In igo8 the tariff reform 
sentiment became so strong as to find expression in the plat- 
forms of both the leading parties. The Republican platform 
of that year declares "unequivocally for a revision of the tariff 
by a special session of Congress, immediately following the 
inauguration of the next president, and commends the steps 
already taken to this end, in the work assigned to the appro- 
j)riate committees of Congress, which are now investigating the 
operation and effect of existing schedules." The Democrats 
a few days later declared: "We favor immediate revision of 
the tariff by the reduction of import duties. Articles enter- 
ing into competition with trust-controlled products should be 
placed upon the free list, and material reductions should be 
made in the tariff upon the necessaries of life, especially upon 
articles competing with such American manufactures as are 
sold abroad more cheaply than at home, and graduated reduc- 
tions should be made in such other schedules as may be neces- 
sary to restore the tariff to a revenue basis." 

As is easily seen from these declarations much of the sub- 
stance of the issue between the two parties was removed, and 
the Republicans, with Taft, won overwhelmingly over the Dem- 
ocrats with Parker. In his inaugural address. President Taft 
said: "A matter of most pressing importance is the revision 
of the tariff. In accordance with the promises of the platform 
upon which I was elected, I shall call Congress into extra ses- 
sion, to meet on the fifteenth day of March, in order that con- 
sideration may be at once given to a bill revising the Dingley 
Act." 

When Congress came together the people expected a generous, 
if careful revision of the tariff. Three days after Congress 
assembled, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, 
Mr. Payne, introduced into the House a measure which was 



THE TARIFF 



559 



substantially the result of the work of the Special Tariff Com- increases 
mittee created by the preceding Congress, and which offered a ^'^^ ^"^ ^^^ 
considerable measure of reduction. The protected interests 
immediately reenforced in every conceivable way their special 
lobbies at the national capi- 
tol for the purpose of pre- 
venting unfavorable legisla- 
tion. Their activities on this 
as on other similar occasions 
attracted a scathing denun- 
ciation from Charles Francis 
Adams, who said of them: 
"Speaking after the fashion 
of men, they are either 
thieves or hogs. I myself 
belong to the former class. 
I am a tariff thief, and I 
have a license to steal. It 
bears the broad seal of the 
United States, and is what is 
known as the 'Dingley Tariff.' 
I stole under it yesterday; I 

am steaHng under it to-day; I propose to steal under it to- 
morrow. The government has forced me into this position, 
and I both do and shall take full advantage of it. . . And 
what are you going to do about it ? The other class come un- 
der the hog category; that is, they rush, squealing and strug- 
gling, to the great Washington protection trough, and with all 
four feet in it they proceed to gobble the swill. . . To this class 
I do not belong. I am simply a tariff thief. . . But, on the 
other hand, I am also a tariff reformer. I would like to see 
every protective schedule swept out of existence, my own in- 
cluded. Meanwhile, what inducement have I to go to Wash- 
ington on a pubHc mission of this sort? A mere citizen, I 
represent no one. . . Meanwhile, have it well understood that 
my position is exactly the position of tens of thousands of 




William H. Taft 



56o THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

others scattered througliout the country; to ask us to put 
aside our business affairs, and at our own expense to go to 
Washington on a desperate mission is asking a little too much." 
These "hogs," however, could not prevent the passage of the 
bill through the House. But when it reached the Senate it was 
changed, under the leadership of IVIr. Aldrich of Rhode Island, 
in 847 counts and, in almost every case, increased the "swill." 
After twelve weeks' debate it passed the Senate and was re- 
ferred to a free conference committee of the two bodies. Here 
. it was slightly revised downward in a few particulars, though 
it remained distinctly the most protective of all protective 
tariffs in our national history. It promptly passed both Houses 
as it came from the free conference committee, and was 
signed by President Taft, who confessed, however, that the 
bill did not fully comply with party promises. 

669. Wil- Naturally the country was disappointed and expressed that 
failure of disappointment in no unmistakable terms. At the close of a 
Congress severe arraignment of the measure, Woodrow Wilson, at the 

time president of Princeton University, declared in the North 
American Review, October, 1909, that "nothing more need be 
said to demonstrate the insincerity, the uncandid, designing, 
unpatriotic character of the whole process. It was not intended 
for the pubHc good. It was intended for the benefit of the 
interests most directly and selfishly concerned." President 
Taft and others declared it the most satisfactory tariff act which 
the country had had. But it widened a breach which was 
already appearing between the progressive and "stand-pat" 
Republicans, and contributed in large measure to Democratic 
victory in 191 2. ' 

670. Wood- President Taft was a candidate for reelection, and was nomi- 
elected ^°° nated by the regular convention of his party. Immediately 
president Colonel Roosevelt organized the "Progressive" party, which 

nominated him for the presidency by acclamation. After a 
hard battle in their convention, the Democrats chose Woodrow 
Wilson, governor of New Jersey, as their standard bearer, and 
he carried the electoral vote by an overwhelming majority. 



CURRENCY AND BANKING 



561 



In the meantime, however, the Taft administration, pro- 671. Con- 
ceeding under authority conferred by the Payne-Aldrich bill, ^^^^^ J°^^ 
was continuing to work at the tariff question through a special iff — 1913 
tariff bureau. This body spent considerable time and money 
in the study of the question. But nothing more than its report 
found its way to congressional action until the special session 
called by President Wilson in April, 1913. Under the Demo- 
cratic leadership of Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama, a some- 
what thorough-going tariff measure has been carried through 
the House and is before the Senate. 



CURRENCY AND BANKING 

Closely articulated, also, with the problem of "big business" 672. Panic 



is the question of currency and banking. The expanding in- 
dustry of the country could not 
continue without aft"ecting the 
nation's monetary system. This 
had been abundantly verified in 
the panic of 1873, in the financial 
distress of 1893 and 1894, and in 
the presidential election of 1896. 
But the period of transition from 
the nineteenth to the twentieth 
century was characterized by an 
unprecedented material develop- 
ment. Everybody seemed to 
prosper, crops were bountiful, 
money was plentiful and easy, 
business confidence pervaded the 
entire country, and men engaged 
in projects that had no real ground 

for existence. The speculative spirit then, combined with an 
anticjuated monetary system, brought on a panic in the autumn 
of 1907. Business suddenly and surprisingly contracted, bank- 
ing houses throughout the country failed disastrously, money 
again became stringent, and the whole country entered upon a 



of 1907 




WooDROw Wilson 



562 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

period of business strain. This condition again directed the 
attention of serious minded men to a reform of the currency and 
banking laws. 

673. Cur- Accordingly, in 1908, Congress appointed a National Mone- 
of ^^1908 ^^^ ^^T Commission with Senator Nelson Aldrich as chairman. In 

the autumn of 1909 President Taft, while touring the country, 
called attention to the need of a Central Bank of Issue, which, 
as he thought, would automatically regulate the supply and 
distribution of the currency and thus prevent the recurrence 
of such crises as that of 1907. This proposal met the ap- 
proval of many bankers throughout the country and found 
formal and somewhat more definite expression in the report of 
the Monetary Commission near the close of 191 1. Briefly, 
this report recommends a National Reserve Association or 
central bank with certain fiscal relations to the national gov- 
ernment, and composed of representatives from smaller but 
similar district associations. Every bank in a given district is 
to be associated about a central district agency, which shall 
also serve as a branch of the National Reserve Association. 
This proposal has aroused a great deal of popular discussion. 
The currency and banking questions are looked upon by the 
Wilson administration as the most pressing national problem 
next to the tariff. 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

674. Eng- The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1S50 provided that: 
land and the 

Panama "The Government of ihc United States and of Great Britain 

hereby declare that neither one nor the other will ever obtain or 

maintain for itself any exclusive control over said [Panama] ship 

canal." 

This treaty was supplanted by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty 
of 1901, one provision of which was the following: 

"The canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce 
and of war of all nations observing these rules on terms of entire 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 563 

equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such 
nation or its citizens or subjects in respect to the conditions or 
charges of traffic or otherwise. Such conditions and charges of 
traffic shall be just and equitable." 

On December 9, 191 2, Congress passed a bill granting 
free passage through the canal to all vessels engaged in the 
coastwise trade of the United States. To this Act Great 
Britain objected on the ground that tolls for passing through 
the canal are assessed to pay the expenses of keeping it in 
repair, and that if the merchant vessels doing the coastwise 
business of the United States should be allowed to pass 
through free, the tolls on all other vessels would be higher, 
in order to meet these expenses, than they would be if all 
should pay toll alike. To this objection the United States 
government, expressing itself through Secretary Knox, re- 
plied that granting to American vessels free passage through 
the canal dug by American engineers, with American money, 
violated no treaty, and was our own affair. However, after 
considerable discussion, the president, Mr. Taft, expressed a 
willingness to oblige Great Britain by submitting the matter 
to arbitration. Great Britain has ceased to press her 
objection, and Congress has not repealed the Act. (Au- 
gust, 1913.) 

In 1832 the United States and Russia entered into a treaty 675. The 

which is now expiring by limitation, of which the following ^"^^\^° 
^ ° -' ' '^ question 

IS the first article: 

"There shall be, between the territories of the high contracting 
parties, a reciprocal hberty of commerce and navigation. The in- 
habitants of their respective states shall mutually have hberty to 
enter the ports, places, and rivers of the territories of each party 
wherever foreign commerce is permitted. They shall be at liberty 
to sojourn and reside in all parts whatsoever of said territories in 
order to attend to their affairs, and they shall enjoy, to that effect, 
the same security and protection as natives of the country wherein 
they reside on condition of their submitting to laws and ordinances 
there prevailing, and particularly to the regulations in force con- 
cerning commerce." 



564 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

On different occasions the passports of American Jews who 
wished to enter Russia have not been honored, because in hon- 
oring those passports American Jews sojourning in Russia 
would be allowed privileges and liberties which are denied 
native Russian Jews by the laws of Russia. While perhaps 
the cases wherein Jews were actually denied the privileges 
guaranteed by the treaty were few, still the fact of these few 
denials deterred many other American Jews from attempting 
to visit Russia, The agitation of the question by leading 
Hebrew citizens in America prompted the passage through 
Congress, by a unanimous vote, save one, of the Sulzer reso- 
lution, which expresses at least the national political sentiment. 
The resolution is as follows: 

"That the people of the United States assert, as a fundamental 
principle, that the rights of its citizens shall not be impaired at 
home or abroad because of race or religion; that the government 
of the United States concludes its treaties for equal protection of 
all classes of its citizens without regard to race or religion; that the 
government of the United States will not be a party to any treaty 
which discriminates, or which, by one of the parties thereto, is so 
construed as to discriminate between American citizens on the 
ground of race or religion; that the government of Russia has vio- 
lated the treaty of 1832, refusing to honor American passports duly 
issued to American citizens, on account of race or religion; that, in 
the judgment of Congress, the said treaty, for reasons aforesaid, 
ought to be terminated at the earliest time; that for the reasons 
aforesaid the said treaty is hereby declared to be terminated and 
of no further force and effect from the expiration of one year after 
date of notification of the government of Russia of the terms of 
this resolution, and that to this end, the President is hereby 
charged with the duty of communicating such notice to the 
government of Russia." 

Both parties now seem willing to agree to the abrogation of 
the treaty of 1832 and the formation of a new treaty more 
explicit in its terms and in harmony with the demands of both 
676. Japan nations. 

and the Early in 1913 the legislature of California, responding to a 

incident popular demand, proposed measures providing in substance 



FOREIGN RELATIONS 565 

that aliens should not own land for speculative purposes, but 
only in such quantities as might be put to personal use. 
They provided also that upon the death of those aliens now 
owning land, the same should be sold ; and that rents or 
leases should not exceed three years. It was evident that 
the legislation was aimed at the Japanese, and the govern- 
ment of Japan protested against it. President Wilson sent 
Secretary of State Bryan to California to consult and advise 
concerning the international problem which the proposed 
legislation raised. The legislature gave Mr. Bryan respectful 
attention but passed the measures at the close of his address, 
and the governor approved with his signature. The Cali- 
fornia legislature seems to have steered clear of the inhibitions 
of the treaty with Japan, and its Acts, while embarrassing to 
the federal government, will stand in the courts. Fortunately 
American diplomacy was equal to the delicate task, and 
friendship with Japan remains unaffected. 

Almost without interruption from 1877 to 1910, Porfirio Diaz 677. The 
was the president of the Republic of Mexico. In 1910 Fran- [^^^"^^^^ 
Cisco I. Madero, Jr., was a candidate against Diaz, and was the efforts 
defeated. Madero, charging frauds in the election, headed ^^flHsonto'^ 
successful revolt against the Diaz government, and Diaz left end the 
the country. De La Barra was made provisional president °" ^^ 
ad interim. An election was called in 191 1, and Madero was 
duly and constitutionally elected president. After two years, 
revolution again broke out; Madero and his vice-president 
were imprisoned, and were quickly put to death. General 
Victoriano Huerta became provisional president, and at his 
assumption of power in the City of Mexico, there broke out 
another revolution, led by the governors of some northern 
Mexican states, who called themselves constitutionalists, to 
emphasize their charge that Huerta 's claim to the presidency 
was unconstitutional. 

The proximity of Mexico to the United States gives this 
country strong grounds of interest in her southern neighbor. 
Battles fought near the line endanger the lives of Americans. 



566 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

Citizens of the United States own property in Mexico. On 
account of the prejudice against Americans existing among 
the less intelligent Mexicans, the lives and proi)erty of 
American citizens in Mexico were endangered. 

President Wilson accepted the resignation of the United 
States ambassador, who was not in harmony with the views 
of the administration, and sent to Mexico ex-Governor John 
Lind of Minnesota as his personal representative. In August, 
19 13, there were strong hopes that even without armed inter- 
vention, America would be able to guide in bringing peace to 
her sister republic. 

SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL IVIOVEMENTS 

678. The While the new democracy is successfully combating 
nse of com- pj.jyj^ggg through the agency of the national government, 
form of it is also at work in a variety of movements looking toward 
goveriunent ^j^^ greater freedom of the individual and a fuller participa- 
tion by him in all those matters that directly affect his 
welfare. For example, a decided reform is taking place in 
the government of cities and towns. When men are busy 
about private affairs they are in danger of becoming neglect- 
ful of civic duties. In the recent era of business activity 
municipal government became the victim of partisan politics. 
Rings, bosses, and political cliques acquired control of the 
machinery of local government and manipulated it in disre- 
gard of public interest. This condition has come about in 
part, no doubt, as a result of the organization under a 
mayor or aldermen chosen usually by political parties that 
in no wise followed definite policies or principles of local 
government, but whose issues were mainly national in char- 
acter. It is not surprising, therefore, that the spoils system 
found a prominent place in municipal administration and that 
the people were cheated out of their rightful service. A more 
or less general consciousness of these evils had begun to be 
felt at the opening of the twentieth century, but no effec- 
tive reform had been undertaken until a destructive storm 



SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL MOVEMENTS 567 

wrought havoc to the city of Galveston in 1900 and made 
necessary an effective and economic administration of the 
city's business. It was seen that if the city was to rise 
again its government must proceed in accordance with com- 
mon interests, and that local and selfish interests must be 
ignored. Accordingly, the old system of organization was 
done away with, and in the place of aldermen representing 
the special interests of districts of the city, there was sub- 
stituted a commission of five which was made responsible for 
the collective interests of the city. The change proved so 
effective in Galveston that other cities have adopted the 
plan with modifications and improvements. The functions 
of each commissioner have been specialized; some of the 
cities have adopted the policy of paying their officers for 
their full time; and some have otherwise given their city 
government the organization of business corporations. These 
changes mean better local government in the interests of the 
people. 

What is popularly known as the Initiative, Referendum, 679. The 
and Recall is being resorted to extensively in state govern- ^j^g people 
ments as well as in cities. The Initiative seeks to confer for greater 
upon a certain per cent (not the same in all cases) ofti^\^n^^he 
the people the right to initiate or begin legislation through government 
petition to the legislative power, such petition being man- 
datory upon that body so far as the question involved is 
concerned. The Referendum requires that, upon petition by 
a varying percentage of voters, measures which shall pass 
the legislature shall also be ratified by the people before 
becoming valid. The Recall gives to the people the right to 
recall or dismiss inefficient or unfaithful officials without wait- 
ing for a regular election. The friends of these measures 
believe that in bringing governmental activities more directly 
under popular control, the people's common aims and inter- 
ests will be better served. They see in them a simple exten- 
sion of the principles of democracy. The opponents of these 
changes see in them a dangerous tampering with representa- 



568 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

tive government, and assert that they have failed to accom- 
plish, where used, the results their friends claim for them. 
Many of the cities throughout the United States have 
adopted one or all of these measures, while the states of 
Oregon, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Michigan, Utah, Mis- 
souri, and Montana have also adopted them. In many 
other states there is a partial use of these measures. 
680. The Discussion has been given to the rise of organized labor in 

increasing tj-jg seventies and eighties (498) and to a number of questions 
dignity of . r i 1 » 1 • • 1 i- • 1 

workers growmg out oi labor s relation to our economic and pohtical 

system. These problems have since become more complex, 
and new ones have arisen that constantly confront both state 
and national law-making bodies. Some progress, however, 
has been made in the matter of adjusting differences between 
labor and capital. In 1902 the American Civic Federation gave 
encouragement to a national conference between labor leaders 
and capitalists. Besides bringing together representative men 
of broad outlook and patriotic purpose, the convention 
appointed a standing committee whose function should be the 
amicable adjustment of industrial troubles, and whose work 
has since been strengthened by the organization for the Foun- 
dation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace (1906), by the 
intervention of the Interstate Commerce Commission, by the 
National Bureau of Labor, and by sundry other organizations 
that seek industrial peace. Meantime, by the educative process, 
greater toleration is being developed on the side of both labor 
and capital, and it now seems that the traditional good sense of 
the American people will eventually bring about an entirely 
satisfactory solution of a most perplexing problem. Strikes 
and boycotts are becoming less numerous, and less destructive. 
The law is also taking greater cognizance of the laboring man. 
Through the passage of liability acts in nearly every state, 
legislation is seeking to give the workingman better protection 
against injury, while at the same time labor organizations 
as well as the larger corporations are attempting to care for 
workingmen through various methods of old-age, sickness, and 



SOCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL MOVEMENTS 569 

accident insurance. Pensions and profit-sharing are resorted 
to in a limited way, and shorter hours and better sanitation are 
doing much to improve the material and intellectual condi- 
tions of the laboring classes. If these improvements with a 
body of more than twenty million of our population signify 
anything, it is a greater, a more enlightened, and a happier 
democracy. 

Along with other more or less popular reforms is a move- 681. The 

ment for woman's suffrage. This movement seems to be one^°™*'^'^ 

suffrage 
of many phases of a more general movement — the constantly movement 

widening field of woman's activities. In the last half century 
women have found employment in factories, have gained ad- 
mission to hundreds of colleges on equal terms with men, have 
entered the professions of law, medicine, teaching, and others, 
in constantly increasing numbers, and have adopted various 
trades and business pursuits with astonishing facility. The 
inevitable result of this enlarged participation in the ordinary 
vocations of men has been the development among women 
of a keener interest in and a broader sympathy for civil and 
political problems. State and local governments have re- 
sponded in many instances to these new conditions by giving 
to women larger control over their own property and by grant- 
ing them suffrage in varying degree. In Wyoming, Utah, 
Colorado, Idaho, Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, and 
Oregon, women enjoy equal suffrage with men. Elections 
have recently been held in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, but 
each resulted in a defeat for the suffrage movement. In Massa- 
chusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, efforts have 
been made to secure the submission of a woman's suffrage 
amendment to the constitution, but so far these efforts have 
failed. In thirty-one of the states women now have the right 
to vote at school elections, and various state and national 
organizations have declared in favor of woman's suffrage, the 
new Progressive Party, organized in 191 2, making it a platform 
demand. Its advocates are very aggressive, and feel keenly 
that they are fighting for the sacred cause of liberty, while 



570 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

as a rule the opponents of the measure can see in it only a tem- 
porary craze that stands for no vital principle of government, 
and insist that women are not by nature fitted for the exercise 
of the suffrage, and that participation in poUtics would hinder 
the efl&cient performance of her duties as a home-maker. 
682. The Patriotic men who think in large terms are now laboring 
" rural life " effectively in an effort to provide the means whereby rural con- 
movemen jitions may satisfy the cravings of the normal man for society 
and its pleasures. While in office, Mr. Roosevelt, responding 
to a general public desire, appointed a committee of distin- 
guished Americans, with Prof. L. H. Bailey of Cornell University 
as chairman, to study rural life and its betterment Among 
other helpful suggestions the report of that committee empha- 
sized the use of the rural school house as a "social center" of 
each community. It should be the meeting place of the debat- 
ing club, the sewing club, the cooking club, the agriculture club, 
the book club, the singing club, the athletic club, and the various 
other clubs and organizations which contribute to the social 
and intellectual life of the neighborhood. In all this activity 
the rural library is perhaps the real center. In the meantime, 
science and government were making large contributions to the 
social life of the country. The telephone found its way into 
the home of many prosperous farmers; and the automobile 
greatly lessened the journey to the city. Furthermore, the 
postoflfice department, with the extension of the rural free 
delivery service, greatly assisted in relieving the hard conditions 
formerly common to the people on isolated farms and ranches. 
Recent years have witnessed an intense effort to bring school 
and home life nearer together by the introduction of the study 
of rural economics into the schools. Legislators, educators, and 
patriotic associations throughout the country have united in 
efforts to make comfortable and beautiful the country school- 
house and the country home. Manual training and agriculture, 
as well as household economics and arts, now share the school 
programs with foreign languages, oratory, music, and painting. 
Everything that affects the lives of people is now engaging the 



THE PEACE MOVEMENT 571 

attention of the great universities. Agriculture in its multi- 
form subdivisions, engineering, — down to the digging of a 
hillside ditch and building a split-log bridge across a brook, — 
the breeding of cattle and other domestic animals, the running of 
a country newspaper, and the directing of a country debating 
club, all are now within the still developing work of state uni- 
versities and other colleges maintained at the state's expense. 
This is but a glance at the great effort of the people to im- 
prove the quality and quantity of the life of the country. 

THE PEACE MOVEMENT 

From a feeble beginning in the parlors of David L. Lodge 684. The 
in New York City (181 5), organized efforts to promote thcg^^j .^^® 
cause of universal peace among the nations have increased 1815 
until nations themselves, through their rulers and represen- 
tatives, are adding not_ only dignity but even force to the 
movement. 

Resolutions have been passed in the House of Representa- 
tives and in the Senate of the United States, in favor of refer- 
ring international questions to arbitration. Somewhat similar 
resolutions have also been passed by the legislative bodies in 
England and in Italy. 

The Czar of Russia proposed a conference to meet at the^^^- '^^^ 
Hague in 1898 — a conference to be composed of representa- ferences 
tives of all the civilized countries, and with the purpose of 
bringing about the disarmament of the nations. This effort 
finding but small encouragement, the czar made a second effort 
in which he proposed a conference at the Hague to discuss 
pending international difficulties. The result was the forma- 
tion of an international Court of Arbitration. 

The second Hague conference met in 1907, called by Presi- 
dent Roosevelt at the suggestion of the Inter-parliamentary 
Union. This conference took long steps forward, (i) It pro- 
\'ided for perpetuating itself by appointing another meeting in 
1915. (2) It established the principle of arbitration, to take the 
place of the power of war, in the collection of national debts. 



572 THE NEW DEMOCRACY 

(3) It provided a Prize Court for the protection of neutral ships 
in time of war. (4) It strengthened the Court of Arbitration. 

Mr. Andrew Carnegie, the American philanthropist, has 
given to the Hague conference a magnificent building and an 
income. President Wilson, almost immediately after his in- 
auguration, with Secretary of State Bryan, began to move 
upon the nations in the interest of arbitration; and to the 
secretary's proposals, the nations have signified their willing- 
ness to enter into an agreement refusing to go to war until 
causes of trouble are investigated by a court, the details of 
whose creation are yet to be worked out. Evidently the Wilson- 
Bryan plan will assist in a\-oiding useless wars, and in bringing 
in the reign of peace. In 1913 three great peace societies held 
their meetings in the United States — one in New York, one 
in St. Louis, and one at Lake Mohonk. All of these con- 
ventions urged the nations to prepare for the program of the 
centennial of the World Peace Movement, the third great 
Hague conference in 19 15. 

SUMMARY 

At the Buffalo exposition in 1901, President McKinley was assassinated. 
Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the presidency, and announced that he 
would pursue the policies of his predecessor. Roosevelt began at once to 
press upon Congress the necessity of "conservation of the national re- 
sources." In 1902 Congress passed the Reclamation Act, designed to 
convert arid areas of the West into irrigated agricultural lands; and the 
Department of the Interior began the work of reclamation. In 1904 
Congress placed the forest service under the Department of Agriculture. 
Vast areas of forest lands were withdrawn from sale, and placed in the 
National Forest Reserves. In 1907 Roosevelt appointed "The Inland 
Waterways Commission"; and the movement has made progress in the 
development of systematic improvement of rivers and harbors. A series 
of destructive floods in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys in 1913 emphasized 
the necessity of scientific effort for the protection of life and property. The 
United States government, by act of Congress, in 1904 began actual work on 
the Panama Canal, having provided for full right and title to the canal zone 
through a treaty with Panama, which had become independent of Colombia. 
The work is still in progress, with outlook for its completion in 1914. 

Popular agitation in regard to trusts, combinations, and monopolies, 
marked the period. Congress created the Department of Commerce and 



SUMMARY AND REVIEW 573 

Labor, including the Bureau of Corporations; passed an act expediting 
the trial of trust cases, passed an anti-rebate act, and an act for the regula- 
tion of railroad rates. Many great combinations were indicted and some 
of them dissolved. Opposition to a protective tariff was growing. In 
1908 even the Republicans declared, in party platform, for a revision of 
the tariff — and won the election of Taft. The new president called 
Congress in extra session to consider the tariff revision, and Congress, in its 
revision, increased the protective rates; yet the bill was signed by President 
Taft. 

In the election for president in 1912, the Republican party split on the 
tariff and other questions, and the Democrats elected Woodrow Wilson. 

REVIEW QUESTIONS 

I. What is the great fundamental problem now before the American people? 
How did it originate? 2. What are trusts? 3. What difBculties are encountered 
in dealing with them? 4. What is the difference between the Jeffersonian Democ- 
racy and present day Democracy? 5. How is the tariff issue related to the trust 
problem? 6. How is it related to the political doctrine that government is for all 
the people? 7. How is it an evidence that business interests have had a large 
share in directing our government? 8. Is the Currency and Banking question an 
evidence of business expansion? 9. Is the Panama Canal the result of an industrial 
and commercial necessity? 10. Will its competition have any appreciable effect 
upon business? How? 11. Explain what is meant by conservation, and tell 
something that has been accompHshed for it. 12. Does the policy of Conservation 
contemplate an enlargement of governmental activities? 13. What is the Peace 
Movement? 14. What are some of the arguments of the promotion of the peace 
movement? 15. What are some of the practical difficulties in the way of universal 
peace? 



APPENDIX I 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In Congress, July 4, 1776 

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress 

Assembled 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people 
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and 
to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to 
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which 
impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such 
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that 
governments long established should not be changed for light and transient 
causes; and accordingly all e.xperience hath shown that mankind are more dis- 
posed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same objecj, evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such 
government, and to provide new guards for their futiu^e security. Such has 
been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which 
constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of 
the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpa- 
tions, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over 
these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the 
public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing im- 
portance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; 
and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

i 



ii APPENDIX I 

He has refused to pass other laws for tlie accommodation of large districts 
of people, unless those peojjlc would relinquish the right of representation in 
the legislature, — a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislati\'e bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his measure. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly 
firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be 
elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining, in the mean time, 
exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that pur- 
pose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new 
appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to 
laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, 
and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers 
to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent 
of our legislatures. 

He has afTected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the 
civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; 

For protecting them, by a niock trial, from punishment for any murders which 
they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, 
establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, 
so as to render it at once an e.xample and fit instrument for introducing the same 
absolute rule into these colonies; 

For taking away our charters, abohshing our most valuable laws, and altering, 
fundamentally, the forms of our governments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with 
power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE iii 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and 
waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and de- 
stroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete 
the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances 
of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally 
unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to 
bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and 
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has e.xcited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored to bring 
on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known 
rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most 
humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
define a tryant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend 
an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir- 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their 
native justice and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of 
our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to 
the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the 
necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest 
of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General 
Congress assembled, appeahng to the Supreme Judge of the world for the recti- 
tude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people 
of these colonies, solemnly pubhsh and declare. That these united colonies are, 
and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved 
from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection be- 
tween them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; 
and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, 
conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts 
and things which independent states may of right do. And, for the support 
of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, 
we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

The foregoing Declaration was, by order of Congress, engrossed and signed 
by the following members: 



IV 



APPENDIX I 



NEW HAMPSraRE 

JOSIAH BaRTLETT 

William Whipple 
Matthew Thornton 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY 
Samuel Adams 
John Adams 
Robert Treat Paine 
Elbridge Gerry 

RHODE ISLAND 
Stephen Hopkins 
William Ellery 

CONNECTICUT 
Roger Sherman 
Samuel Huntington 
William Williams 
Ouver Wolcott 

NEW YORK 
William Floyd 
Philip Livingston 
Francis Lewis 
Lewis Morris 



John Hancock 

NEW JERSEY 
Richard Stockton 
John Witherspoon 
Francis HopiaNSON 
John Hart 
Abraham Clark 

PENNS\TLVANLA 
Robert Morris 
Benjamin Rush 
Benjamin Franklin 
John Morton 
George Clymer 
James Smith 
George Taylor 
James Wilson 
George Ross 

DELAWARE 
C.«sar Rodney 
George Read 
Thomas M'Kean 

MAR\TAND 

Samuel Chase 
William Paca 



Thomas Stone 
Charles Carroll, of 
CarroUton 

VIRGINIA 
George Wythe 
Richard Henry Lee 
Thomas Jefferson 
Benjamin Harrison 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. 
Francts Lightfoot Lee 
Carter Braxton 

NORTH CAROLINA 
William Hooper 
Joseph Hewes 
John Penn 

SOUTH CAROLINA 
Edward Rutledge 
Thomas Heyward, Jr. 
Thomas Lynch, Jr. 
Arthur Middleton 

GEORGIA 
Button Gwinnett 
Lyman Hall 
George Walton 



Resolved, That copies of the Declaration be sent to the several assemblies, 
conventions, and committees, or councils of safety, and to the several command- 
ing officers of the continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the United 
States, at the head of the army. 



APPENDIX II 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION 

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States of New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Islattd and Providence Plantations, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 

Article I. — The style of this Confederacy shall be, "The United States of 
America." 

Art. II. — Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, 
and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation 
e.xpressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. 

Art. III. — The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of 
friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their 
liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist 
each other against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of 
them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

Art. IV. — The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and inter- 
course among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabi- 
tants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice 
excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in 
the several States; and the people of each State shall have free ingress and 
egress to and from any other State, and shall enjoy therein all the privileges 
of trade and commerce subject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions 
as the inhabitants thereof respectively; provided that such restrictions shall 
not extend so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State 
to any other State of which the owner is an inhabitant; provided also, that no 
imposition, duties, or restriction shall be laid by any State on the property of 
the United States or either of them. If any person guilty of, or charged with, 
treason, felony, or other high misdemeanour in any State shall flee from justice 
and be found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the governor 
or executive power of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed 
to the State having jurisdiction of his offense. Full faith and credit shall be 
given in each of these States to the records, acts, and judicial proceedings of 
the courts and magistrates of every other State. 

Art. V. — For the more convenient management of the general interests of 
the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the 
Legislature of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday 



vi APPENDIX II 

in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its 
delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in 
their stead for the remainder of the year. No State shall be represented in 
Congress by less than two, nor by more than seven members; and no person 
shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six 
years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office 
under the United States for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any 
salary, fees, or emolument of any kind. Each State shall maintain its own 
delegates in any meeting of the States and while they act as members of the 
Committee of the States. In determining questions in the United States, in 
Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote. Freedom of speech and 
debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place 
out of Congress; and the members of Congress shall be protected in their 
persons from arrests and imprisonment during the time of their going to and 
from, and attendance on, Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the 
peace. 

Art. VT. — No State, without the consent of the United States, in Congress 
assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter 
into any conference, agreement, alliance, or treaty with any king, prince, or 
state; nor shall any person holding any office of profit or trust under the United 
States, or any of them, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any 
kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state; nor shall the United 
States, in Congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title of nobility. 

No two or more States shall enter into any treaty, confederation, or alliance 
whatever between them, without the consent of the United States, in Congress 
assembled, specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be 
entered into, and how long it shall continue. 

No State shall lay any imposts or duties which may interfere with any stipu- 
lations in treaties entered into by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
with any king, prince, or state, in pursuance of any treaties already proposed 
by Congress to the courts of France and Spain. 

No vessel of war shall be kept up in time of peace by any State, except such 
number only as shall be deemed necessary by the United States, in Congress 
assembled, for the defence of such State or its trade, nor shall any body of forces 
be kept up by any State in time of peace, except such number only as, in the 
judgment of the United States, in Congress assembled, shall be deemed requisite 
to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such State; but every State 
shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined militia, sufficiently armed 
and accoutred, and shall provide and constantly have ready for use in public 
stores a due number of field-pieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, 
ammunition, and camp equipage. 

No State shall engage in any war without the consent of the United States, 
in Congress assembled, unless such State be actually invaded by enemies, or 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION vii 

shall have received certain advice of a resolution being formed by some nation 
of Indians to invade such State, and the danger is so imminent as not to admit 
of a delay till the United States, in Congress assembled, can be consulted; nor 
shall any State grant commissions to any ships or vessels of war, nor letters of 
marque or reprisal, except it be after a declaration of war by the United States, 
in Congress assembled, and then only against the kingdom or state, and the 
subjects thereof, against which war has been so declared, and under such regu- 
lations as shall be established by the United States, in Congress assembled, 
unless such State be infested by pirates, in which case vessels of war may be 
fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger shall continue, or 
until the United States, in Congress assembled, shall determine otherwise. 

Art. vii. — When land forces are raised by any State for the common 
defence, all officers of or under the rank of Colonel shall be appointed by the 
Legislature of each State respectively by whom such forces shall be raised, or 
in such manner as such State shall direct, and all vacancies shall be filled up by 
the State which first made the appointment. 

Art. VIII. — All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred 
for the common defence, or general welfare, and allowed by the United States, 
in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall 
be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land within 
each State, granted to, or surveyed for, any person, as such land and the build- 
ings and improvements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode as 
the United States, in Congress assembled, shall, from time to time, direct and 
appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the 
authority and direction of the Legislatures of the several States, within the time 
agreed upon by the United States, in Congress assembled. 

Art. IX. — The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the sole 
and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except in the 
cases mentioned in the sixth Article; of sending and receiving ambassadors; 
entering into treaties and alliances, provided that no treaty of commerce shall 
be made, whereby the legislative power of the respective States shall be re- 
strained from imposing such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own people 
are subjected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any 
species of goods or commodities whatsoever; of establishing rules for deciding, 
in all cases, what captures on land and water shall be legal, and in what manner 
prizes taken by land or naval forces in the service of the United States shall be 
divided or appropriated; of granting letters of marque and reprisal in times of 
peace; appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas; and establishing courts for receiving and determining finally appeals 
in all cases of captures; provided that no member of Congress shall be appointed 
a judge of any of the said courts. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall also be the last resort on 
appeal in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or that hereafter may arise 



viii APPENDIX II 

between two or more States concerning boundary jurisdiction, or any other 
cause whatever; which authority shall always be exercised in the manner 
following: Whenever the legislative or executive authority, or lawful agent of 
any State in controversy with another, shall present a petition to Congress, 
stating the matter in question, and praying for a hearing, notice thereof shall be 
given by order of Congress to the legislative or executive authority of the other 
State in controversy, and a day assigned for the appearance of the parties by 
their lawful agents, who shall then be directed to appoint, by joint consent, 
commissioners or judges to constitute a court for hearing and determining the 
matter in question; but if they cannot agree. Congress shall name three persons 
out of each of the United States, and from the list of such persons each party 
shall alternately strike out one, the petitioners beginning, until the number shall 
be reduced to thirteen; and from that number not less than seven nor more 
than nine names, as Congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of Congress, be 
drawn out by lot; and the persons whose names shall be so drawn, or any five 
of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to hear and finally determine the 
controversy, so always as a major part of the judges who shall hear the cause 
shall agree in the determination; and if either party shall neglect to attend at 
the day appointed, without showing reasons which Congress shall judge suffi- 
cient, or being present, shall refuse to strike, the Congress shall proceed to 
nominate three persons out of each State, and the secretary of Congress shall 
strike in behalf of such party absent or refusing; and the judgment and sen- 
tence of the court, to be appointed in the manner before prescribed, shall be 
final and conclusive; and if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the 
authority of such court, or to appear or defend their claim or cause, the court 
shall nevertheless proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, which shall in 
like manner be final and decisive; the judgment or sentence and other pro- 
ceedings being in either case transmitted to Congress, and lodged among the 
acts of Congress for the security of the parties concerned; provided, that every 
commissioner, before he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered 
by one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of the State where the 
cause shall be tried, "well and truly to hear and determine the matter in ques- 
tion, according to the best of his judgment, without favour, affection, or hope 
of reward." Provided, also, that no State shall be deprived of territory for the 
benefit of the United States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different 
grants of two or more States, whose jurisdictions, as they may respect such 
lands, and the States which passed such grants are adjusted, the said grants or 
either of them being at the same time claimed to have originated antecedent to 
such settlement of jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the Con- 
gress of the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in the same 
manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes respecting territorial 
jurisdiction between different States. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION ix 

The United Sates, in Congress assembled, shall also have the sole and exclu- 
sive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their 
own authority, or by that of the respective States; fixing the standard of weights 
and measures throughout the United States; regulating the trade and manag- 
ing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the States; provided 
that the legislative right of any State, within its own limits, be not infringed 
or violated; establishing and regulating post-ofEces from one State to another, 
throughout all the United States, and exacting such postage on the papers 
passing through the same as may be requisite to defray the expenses of the said 
ofSce; appointing all ofBcers of the land forces in the service of the United 
States, excepting regimental ofBcers; appointing all the officers of the naval 
forces, and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United 
States; making rules for the government and regulation of the said land and 
naval forces, and directing their operations. 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have authority to appoint 
a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated "A Committee 
of the States," and to consist of one delegate from each State, and to appoint 
such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the 
general affairs of the United States under their direction; to appoint one of 
their number to preside; provided that no person be allowed to serve in the 
office of president more than one year in any term of three years; to ascertain 
the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, 
and to appropriate and apply the same for defraying the public expenses; to 
borrow money or emit bills on the credit of the United States, transmitting 
every half year to the respective States an account of the sums of money so 
borrowed or emitted; to build and equip a navy; to agree upon the number of 
land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its quota, in proportion 
to the number of white inhabitants in such State, which requisition shall be 
binding; and thereupon the Legislature of each State shall appoint the regi- 
mental officers, raise the men, and clothe, arm, and equip them in a soldier-like 
manner, at the expense of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed, 
armed, and equipped shall march to the place appointed, and within the time 
agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled; but if the United States, 
in Congress assembled, shall, on consideration of circumstances, judge proper 
that any State should not raise men, or should raise a smaller number than its 
quota, and that any other State should raise a greater number of men than the 
quota thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, armed, and 
equipped in the same manner as the quota of such State, unless the Legislature 
of such State shall judge that such extra niunber cannot be safely spared out 
of the same, in which case they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip as 
many of such extra number as they judge can be safely spared, and the officers 
and men so clothed, armed, and equipped shall march to the place appointed, 
and within the time agreed on by the United States, in Congress assembled. 



X APPENDIX II 

The United States, in Congress assembled, shall never engage in a war, nor 
grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace, nor enter into any treaties 
or alliances, nor coin money, nor regulate the value thereof, nor ascertain the 
sums and expenses necessary for the defense and welfare of the United States, 
or any of them, nor emit bills, nor borrow money on the credit of the United 
States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war to 
be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint 
a commander-in-chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same, 
nor shall a question on any other point, except for adjourning from day to day , 
be determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled. 

The Congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn to any time 
within the year, and to any place within the United States, so that no period of 
adjournment be for a longer duration than the space of six months, and shall 
publish the journal of their proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof 
relating to treaties, alliances, or military operations as in their judgment require 
secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State, on any question, 
shall be entered on the journal when it is desired by any delegate; and the 
delegates of a State, or any of them, at his or their request, shall be furnished 
with a transcript of the said journal except such parts as are above excepted, 
to lay before the Legislatures of the several States. 

Art. X. — The Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall be 
authorized to execute, in the recess of Congress, such of the powers of Congress 
as the United States, in Congress assembled, by the consent of nine States, shall, 
from time to time, think expedient to vest them with; provided that no power 
be delegated to the said Committee, for the exercise of which, by the Articles 
of Confederation, the voice of nine States in the Congress of the United States 
assembled is requisite. 

Art. XL — Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and joining in the 
measures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all the 
advantages of this Union; but no other colony shall be admitted into the same, 
unless such admission be agreed to by nine States. 

Art. XIL — All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts con- 
tracted by or under the authority of Congress, before the assembling of the 
United States, in pursuance of the present Confederation, shall be deemed and 
considered as a charge against the United States, for payment and satisfaction 
whereof the said United States and the public faith are hereby solemnly pledged. 

Art. XIIL — Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United 
States, in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this Confederation are 
submitted to them. And the Articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably 
observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any altera- 
tion at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be 
agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by 
the Legislatures of every State. 



ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION xi 

And whereas it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to incline the 
hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress to ai)pro\e of, 
and to authorize us to ratify, the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual 
Union, know ye, that we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the power and 
authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these presents, in the name and 
in behalf of our respective constituents, fully and entirely ratify and confirm 
each and every of the said Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union, and 
all and singular the matters and things therein contained. And we do further 
solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, that they 
shall abide by the determinations of the United States, in Congress assembled, 
on all questions which by the said Confederation are submitted to them; and 
that the Articles thereof shall be inviolably observed by the States we repec- 
tively represent, and that the Union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in Congress. Done at 
Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania the ninth day of July in the year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, and in the 
third year of the independence of America. 

[Here follow the signatures of the delegates from New Hampshire, the Massa- 
chusetts Bay, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connect- 
icut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 48 in all.] 



APPENDIX III 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, 
establish justice, insure domestic trancjuillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States 
of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Represent- 
atives. 

Sect. II. i. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors 
in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the 
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he 
shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several 
States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free 
persons, including those bound to service for a terra of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner 
as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed 
one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representa- 
tive; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New Jersey four, Penn- 
sylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five, 
South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Execu- 
tive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 

xii 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xiii 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other 
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sect. III. i. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and 
each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first 
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The 
seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the 
second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class at the e.xpiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen 
every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during 
the recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make 
temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall 
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, 
but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office 
of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the Presi- 
dent of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person 
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disquahfication to hold and enjoy any office of honor, 
trust or profit imder the United States: but the party convicted shall never- 
theless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, 
according to law. 

Sect. IV. i. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators 
and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; 
but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except 
as to the places of choosing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting 
shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint 
a different day. 

Sect. V. i. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a 
quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such 
manner, and under such penalties, as each house may provide. 



xiv APPENDIX III 

2. Each house maj- determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members 
for disorderl)' behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time 
publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy ; 
and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question shall, 
at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent 
of the other, adjourn for more than three daj's, nor to any other place than that 
in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Sect. VL i. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensa- 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out of the treasury of 
the United States. They shall in all cases except treason, felony and breach 
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session 
of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and 
for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any 
other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was 
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, 
which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been 
increased, during such time; and no person holding any ofhce under the United 
States shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. 

Sect. VII. i. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as 
on other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the 
Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the 
United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with 
his objections to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter 
the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after 
such reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall 
likewise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be deter- 
mined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against 
the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill 
shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after 
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if 
he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, 
in which case it shall not be a law. 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of 
adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xv 

by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 
Sect. VIII. The Congress shall have power 

I. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts 
and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; 
but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
States; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes; 

4. To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the 
subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix 
the standard of weights and measures; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current 
coin of the United States; 

7. To establish post ofiices and post roads; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited 
times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings 
and discoveries; 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas 
and offences against the law of nations; 

II. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use 
shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval 
forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, 
suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and for 
governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United 
States, reserving to the States respectively the appointment of the officers, and 
the authority of training the miUtia according to the disciphne prescribed by 
Congress; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such dis- 
trict (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, 
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United 
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State, in which the same shall be, for the erection of 
forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildings; — and 



xvi APPENDIX III 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitu- 
tion in the government of the United States, or in any department or office 
thereof. 

Sect. IX. i. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the 
Congress prior to the year 1808; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
importation, not exceeding $ro for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to 
the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue 
to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or 
from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of ap- 
propriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts 
and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. 

8. No title of nobiUty shall be granted by the United States: and no person 
holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of 
the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind 
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sect. X. i. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; 
grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make 
anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill 
of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or 
grant any title of nobihty. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or 
duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for 
executing its inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, 
laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of 
the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control 
of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, 
keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or com- 
pact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless 
actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II 

Section I. i. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xvii 

years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, 
be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Repre- 
sentatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator 
or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two 
persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State'with 
themselves. And they shall make a hst of all the persons voted for, and of the 
number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the 
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors ap- 
pointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an 
equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, 
then from the five highest on the list the said house shall in like manner choose 
the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, 
after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes 
of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or 
more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
Vice-President.] 

3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the 
day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same through- 
out the United States. 

4. No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, 
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office 
of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not 
have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

5. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death, resigna- 
tion, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said ofiice, the same 
shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the Congress may by law provide for 
the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabiUty, both of the President and 
Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such 
officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall 
be elected. 



xviii APPENDIX III 

6. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensa- 
tion, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for 
which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period 
any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

7. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following 
oath or affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully 
execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my 
abiUty, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." 

Sect. II. i. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called 
into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any 
subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power 
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except 
in cases of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he 
shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall 
appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the 
Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they 
think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. 

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at 
the end of their next session. 

Sect. III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of 
the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, 
convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 
them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such 
time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public 
ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
commission all the officers of the United States. 

Sect. IV. The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and on conviction 
of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III 
Section I. i. The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in 
one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to 
time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xix 

courts, shall hold their ofllces during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. 

Sect. II. i. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made 
or which shall be made, under their authority; — to all cases aflfecting ambassa- 
dors, other public ministers and consuls; — to all cases of admiralty jurisdic- 
tion;— to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; — to 
controversies between two or more States; — between a State and citizens of 
another State; — between citizens of different States; — -between citizens of 
the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a 
State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, 
and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have 
original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme 
Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such ex- 
ceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; 
and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been 
committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at 
such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Sect. III. i. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses 
to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but 
no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except 
during the Ufe of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public 
acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sect. II. i. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who 
shall f^ee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the 
executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be 
removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, 
be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of 
the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 



XX APPENDIX III 

Sect. III. i. New States may be admitted bj' the Congress into this Union ; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other 
State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts 
of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well 
as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules 
and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to 
prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Sect. IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against in- 
vasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the 
legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the 
legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for pro- 
posing amendments, which, in either case shall be valid to all intents and pur- 
poses, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three 
fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided 
that no amendments which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the 
ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall 
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption 
of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this 
Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made 
in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the 
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members 
of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial ofBcers, both of 
the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirma- 
tion, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required 
as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xxi 



ARTICLE VII 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the 
establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, the 
seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven and of the Independence of the United States of 
America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our 



[Signed by] 



NEW HAMPSHIRE 

John Langdon 
Nicholas Oilman 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Nathaniel Gorham 
RuFus King 

CONNECTICUT 

Wm. Saul. Johnson 
Roger Sherman 

NEW YORK 
Alexander Hamilton 

NEW JERSEY , 

Wil; Livingston 
David Brearlev 
Wm: Paterson 
Jona: Dayton 



Go Washington 

Prcsidt and Deputy from Virginia 



PENNSYLVANIA 

B Franklin 
Thomas Mifflin 
RoBT. Morris 
Geo. Clymer 
Tho. Fitz Simons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
Gouv Morris 

DELAWARE 

Geo: Read 

Gunning Bedford, Jun. 
John Dickinson 
Richard Bassett 
Jaco: Broom 

MARYLAND 

James McHenry 

Dan of St. Thos. Jenifer 

Danl Carroll 



VIRGINIA 

John Blair 

James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA 

Wm. Blount 

Richd. Dobbs Spaight 

Hu Williamson 



SOUTH CAROLINA 

J. Rutledge 
Charles Cotesworth 

PiNCKNEY 
ChARLF.S PiNCKNEY 

Pierce Butler 
GEORGIA 

William Few 
Abr Baldwin 



Attest: William Jackson, Secretary 

Articles in Addition to and Amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified 
BY THE Legislatures of the Several States, Pursuant to the 
Fifth Article of the Original Constitution 

Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free e.xercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

Article II. A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 

Article III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be 
prescribed by law. 



xxii APPENDIX III 

Article IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and 
the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury except 
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual 
service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or hmb; nor shall be compelled 
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property 
be taken for public use without just compensation. 

Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of 
the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assist- 
ance of counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, 
than according to the rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respec- 
tively, or to the people. 

Article XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one 
of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of 
any foreign state. 

Article XII. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of 
the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES xxiii 

the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the pres- 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and 
the votes shall then be counted; — • the person having the greatest number of 
votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of 
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose im- 
mediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes 
shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; 
a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the 
death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The person having 
the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if 
no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the hst, the 
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist 
of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole 
number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible 
to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
States. 

Article XIII. Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris- 
diction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

Article XIV. Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States 
and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, hberty, or property, without due 
process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec- 
tion of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons 
in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any 
election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-President of the United 
States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a 
State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male 
inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the 



xxiv APPENDIX III 

United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or 
other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the propor- 
tion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of 
male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an 
oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a 
member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each house, remove such 
disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized 
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But 
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obliga- 
tion incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, 
and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legisla- 
tion the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account 
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congres's shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
priate legislation. 

Article XVI. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the 
several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

Article XVII. Section i. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six 
years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall 
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
State Legislatures. 

Section 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State m 
the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election 
to fill such vacancies: Provided that the Legislature of any State may empower 
the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the 
vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

Section 3. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election 
or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. 



APPENDIX IV 

GROWTH IN TERRITORY AND ORGANIZATION 

The Treaty of Paris in 1783 fixed, approximately, the boundary of the 
United States as follows: The Atlantic Ocean was the eastern boundary as far 
south as Florida. The definite northern boundary began about where the 
forty-fifth parallel of north latitude crosses the Connecticut river and ran 
west to the St. Lawrence river and up that river through Lake Ontario, Lake 
Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and to the northwest corner of the Lake- 
of-the-Woods; thence due south to the Mississippi river, to the thirty-first 
parallel, or to Spanish Florida; thence east to the Chattahoochee river; thence 
down that river to the mouth of the Fhnt river; thence due east to St. Mary's 
river, and thence along that river to the mouth. The northeastern boundary 
between Maine and the British possessions was settled by the Webster-Ash- 
burton Treaty in 1842. 



Acquisition of Territory 





Name 


Treaty 


Area in 
sq. miles 


Price; source 


I 




1803 
1819 
1845 
1848 
1853 
1867 
1898 
1899 
1899 
1899 
1899 


1,032,700 

58,680 

371,063 

522,568 

45,535 

577,390 

6,740 

146,750 

3,600 

200 

54 




2 


Florida 


$5,000,000. Spain. 


•3 

4 


Annexation of Texas 


By joint resolution in Congress. 


s 






6 


Alaska Purchase 


$7,200,000. Russia. 


7 


Hawaii 




8 
9 


Philippines 

Porto Rico 


$20,000,000. Spain. 


10 


Guam 


Capture and treaty. 


II 


Tutuila 


Coaling station, treaty. 









• Included part of what is now New Mexico. 



XXVI 



APPENDIX IV 



Date of Organization as Territories, Admission as States, Area, and Population 

ACCORDING to I9IO CENSUS 

Original 13 States in order of ratification of the Constitution 



Name 



Delaware 

Pennsylvania . . . . 

New Jersey 

Georgia 

Connecticut 

Massachusetts. . . 

Maryland 

South Carolina. . 
New Hampshire 

Virginia 

New York 

North Carolina.. 

Rhode Island 

Vermont 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Ohio 

Louisiana 

Indiana 

Mississippi 

Illinois 

Alabama 

Maine 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Michigan , 

Florida , 

Texas , 

Iowa 

Wisconsin 

California 

Minnesota 

Oregon 

Kansas 

West Virginia... 

Nevada 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

North Dakota.. 
South Dakota. . 

Montana 

Washington.. .. 
Idaho 



Territory 



1790 
1790 
1800 
1804 
1783 
1783 
1809 
1802 

1812 
1819 
1819 
1822 

1838 
1836 
1846 
1849 
1849 
1854 

1861 
I8S4 
1861 
1861 
1861 
1864 
l8S3 
1863 



State 



Dec. 7, 
Dec. 12, 
Dec. 18, 
Jan. 2, 
Jan. 9, 
Feb. 6, 
Apr. 28, 
May 23, 
June 21, 
June 25, 
July 26, 
Nov. 21, 
May 29, 
Mar. 4, 
June I, 
June I, 
Feb. 19, 
Apr. 8, 
Dec. II, 
Dec. 10, 
Dec. 3, 
Dec. 14, 
Mar. 15, 
Aug. 10, 
June IS. 
Jan. 26, 
Mar. 3. 
Dec. 29, 
Dec. 28, 
May 29, 
Sept. 9, 
May II, 
Feb. 14, 
Jan. 29, 
June 19, 
Sept. 31. 
Mar. I, 
Aug. I, 
Nov. 3, 
Nov. 3. 
Nov. 8, 
Nov. II, 
July 3. 



1787 
1787 
1787 
1788 
1788 
1788 
1788 



1788 
1788 
1789 
1790 
1791 
1792 
1796 
1803 
1812 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1836 
1837 
1845 
1845 
1846 
1848 
1850 
1858 
i8S9 
1861 
1863 
1864 
1867 
1876 
1S89 
1889 
1889 
1889 
1890 



Area in 
sq. miles 



2,050 
45.215 

7,815 
59.475 

4.990 

8,315 
12,210 
30,570 

9.30s 
42.450 
49.170 
52,250 

1,250 

9.565 
40,400 
42,050 
41,060 
48,720 
36,350 
46,810 
56,650 
52,250 
33.040 
69.415 
S3,8,';o 

58,915 
58,680 

265,780 
56,025 
56,040 

158,360 

83.365 

76,0.50 
82,080 
24,780 

110,700 
77.510 

103,925 
70.795 
77.650 

146,080 
69,180 

84,800 



Population 



202,322 

7,66s, III 

2,.5.57.l67 

2,609,121 

1,114,756 

3,366,416 

1.295.346 

1,515,400 

430,572 

2,061,612 

•9,113,614 

2,206,287 

542,610 

355.956 

2.289,905 

2,184,789 

4,767,121 

1,656.388 

2,700,876 

1.797. 114 

5.638.591 

2.138,093 

742.371 

3.293.335 

1.574.499 

2,810,173 

752,619 

3,896,.S42 

2,224,771 

2,810,173 

2,377.549 

2.075,-08 

672.76s 

I 690,949 

1,221,119 

81,875 

1,192,214 

799.024 

577.056 

583,888 

376,053 

141.990 

325.594 



GROWTH IN TERRITORY AND ORGANIZATION xxvii 



Date of Organization as Territories, Admission as States, Area, and Population 
ACCORDING to igio Census {Continued) 



Name 



Wyoming... 

Utah 

Oklahoma.. 
New Mexico 

Arizona 

Alaska , 

Hawaii , 

Porto Rico., 
Philippines.. 

Guam , 

Tutuila 



Territory 



868 
8so 
891 
850 
863 
868 
900 
900 



899 



State 



July 10, 1890 
Jan. 4, 1896 
Nov. 16, 1907 
Jan. 6, 1912 
Feb. 14, 1912 



Area in 
sq. miles 



92,890 

84,970 

70,057 

122,460 

112.929 

590,884 

6,449 

3.606 

127,853 

200 

54 



Population 



145,965 
373,351 
1,657.15s 
327.396 
204.354 
64,356 
191,907 

1,1X8,012 

7,635,426 

9,000 
3.700 



INDEX 

Figures refer to pages 



Abercrombie, James, defeated at Ticon- 
deroga, 128-129 

Abolitionists, the agitators, 316; news- 
papers, 318; press and pulpit, 321; 
petitions concerning, 323; arguments, 
323-325; Liberty Party, 326; Mrs. 
Stowe, 349; the RepubUcans, 359; 
Harper's Ferry, 363-364 

Acadians, deported, 128 

Acadie (Nova Scotia) settled, 114 

Adams, Charles Francis (elder), candi- 
date for vice-presidency, 346 

Adams, Charles Francis (younger), 
quoted, 557 

Adams, George Burton, quoted, 4 

Adams, John, proposes Washington for 
commander-in-chief, 172; peace com- 
missioner, 202; on aristocracy, 226; 
vice-president, 228; elected presi- 
dent, 243 

Adams, John Quincy, peace commis- 
sioner, 270; secretary of state, 272; 
candidate for presidency, 289; elected 
president, 291; character, 291; mem- 
ber house of representatives, 323 

Adams, Samuel, opposition to tyranny, 
159-160; 162; 165; 167; 174; oppo- 
ses Constitution, 222 

Agriculture in England, 49 

Agricultural products, 18; 63; 137; 138 

Aguinaldo, 540 

Aix la Chapelle, treaty of, 124 

Alabama, De Soto in, 40; Jackson de- 
feats Indians in, 269-270; admitted, 
282; secedes, 372; in 1874, 463 ftn. 

Alabama claims, 394; 466-467 

Alabama, the cruiser, sinks the Halleras, 
395 ftn.; is sunk by the Kcarsarge, 395 
ftn.; 438 

Alaska, Russia's orders concerning, 277; 
purchase of, 467 

Albany, settled, 80; colonial congress, 
126 

Albemarle Point, settlement, 67 



Albemarle sound, 66 

Aldrich, Nelson M., 560; 562 

Alexandria, commissioners at, 217; Fed- 
erals occupy, 384 

Alger, R. A., secretary of war, 539 

Algonkins, subdivisions of, 26 

Alien Enemies Act, 245 

Alien Friends Act, 245 

Allen, Ethan, 171 

Alliance, Farmers', 510 

Alliance, French, 183 

Alliance, Holy, 276 

Amelia Courthouse, 442 

Amendments, First Ten, or Bill of 
Rights, 222-223; 230 

Eleventh and Twelfth: see Consti- 
tution, Appendix II 

Thirteenth, proposed and carried, 
448 

Fourteenth, proposed, 453; re- 
jected by South, 454 

South forced to accept, 456 
Fifteenth, ratified, 456 
Sixteenth and seventeenth, ratified, 
546 

American Federation of Labor, 499 

American Party, or Know-nothings, 
35S-35Q 

*Amherst, Jeffrey, at Louisburg, 129; 
supersedes Abercrombie, 130 

Ampudia, Pedro de, defeated, 341 

Anarchists in Chicago, 497-498 

Anderson, Robert, occupies Fort Sum- 
ter, 368; surrenders, 381; promoted, 
382^ 

Andre, John, executed, 185 

Andros, Edmond, 82; 84; 108 

Anglo-Saxon, the, 12; 113; 133; 142; 333 

Annapolis, Nova Scotia, 124 

Anne, Queen, 14S 

Annexation, of Hawaii, 539-540 
" of Texas, 338 

Antietam, or Sharpsburg, battle of, 429 

Anti-federalists, 222; 226 



XXX 



INDEX 



Appalachians, 17 

"Appointments, midnight", 248 

Appomattox Courthouse, surrender at, 
442 

Appomattox river, 433; 441 

Arbitration, of Alabama claims, 466- 
467; of seal fisheries question, 510; 
Great Britain and Venezuela, 524; 
Court of, 563 

Arbuthnot, Marriot, at siege of Charles- 
ton, igo 

Archdale, John, 70 

Argall, Samuel, 53 

Argentina, revolution in, 276 

Arguments, against slavery, 323-324; 
for slaver>', 324-325; concerning an- 
nexation of Texas, 338-339 

Aristocrats, 138-139 

Aristotle, 30 

Arizona, the Indians of, 20; organiza- 
tion of, 475 

Arkansas, De Soto in, 40; mentioned, 
285; admitted, 339; secedes, 383 

Arkwright, Richard, inventor, 319 

Arnold, Benedict, at Ticonderoga, 171; 
at Quebec, 177; at Saratoga, 180; 
treachery of, 185; in Virginia, 196 

"Aroostook War", m 

Arthur, Chester A., elected vice-presi- 
dent, 483; becomes president, 484 

Articles of Confederation, adopted by 
congress, 209; ratified, 212 

Ashburton-Webster treaty, 33s 

Ashe, John, defeated at Brier Creek, 188 

Assumption of state debts, 235 

Atlanta campaign, 435-436 

Atlantic cable, 467-468 

Augusta, 188; British occupy, 190; at- 
tempt upon, 192; taken by Lee and 
Pickens, 195 

Austin, Moses and Stephen F., 335 

Austria, in Holy Alliance, 276 

Aztecs, 19, 24 



Babcock, Orville E., Grant's private 

secretary, 483 ftn. 
Bacon's rebellion, 59 
Bainbridge, William, at Tripoli, 259; 

mentioned, 268 
Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, discovers 

Pacific Ocean, 35 
Baltimore, Lord, 60 
Baltimore riot, 382 



Baltimore, skirmish near, 269 
Bank, — of North America, 214; Na- 
tional, 236; 274; under Jackson, 305- 

308; bill for, vetoed by Tyler, 332 
Banks, N. P., supersedes Patterson, 390; 

takes Port Hudson, 414; campaigns, 

415-416; Red river campaign, 416; 

defeated at Winchester, 425 
Barbados, 66 
Barker, Potts and Ramsdell, quoted, 

335 
"Barn-burners", nominate Van Buren, 

and become the Free Soil Party, 346 
Barre, Isaac, 161 
Bartow, Francis S., killed at Manassas, 

389 
Baton Rouge, occupied by Federals, 415 
Baum, Frederick, defeated by Stark, 180 
Bayard, James A., peace commissioner, 

270 
Bayard, Thomas F., 493 ftn. 
Bear Flag, 342 
Beauregard, G. T., reduces Fort Sumter, 

381; at battle of Manassas, 386-380; 

retreats from Shiloh, 410; superseded 

by Bragg, 417; defeats Butler, 433 
Bee, Barnard E., killed at Manassas, 

388; 389 
Belknap, W. W., secretary of war, 483 

ftn. 
Bell, John, candidate for presidency, 

365 
Bellamy, Edward, 499 
Bellomont, Earl of, 83 
Belmont, battle, 408 
Bermington, battle, 180 
Bentonville, battle, 437 
Bering Sea, seal fisheries, 512 
Berkeley, John, 83-84 
Berkeley, William, 56-59 
Bermuda Island.s, 52 
Biddle, Nicholas, 306 
Bienville (Le Moync) founds New 

Orleans, 120 
Bill of Rights, 142; 222 
Bimey, J. G., candidate for presidency, 

338 
Bismarck, Prince Otto Von, 513 
Blackstone, Sir William, quoted, 54 ftn. 
Blaine, James G., 483; secretary of 

state, 484; candidate for presidency, 

487; character, 487-488; mentioned, 

508; 512; 514 
Blair, James, 60 



INDEX 



XXXI 



Bland-Allison Silver Act, 480-4S1 

Bland, Richard P., 480; 526 

Blockade, of France by Great Britain, 
259; of Confederacy, 392-405 

Blue, Victor, 536 

Boone, Daniel, in Kentucky, igS; in 
Missouri, 255 ftn. 

Border states, held to the Union, 383 

Boscawen, Edward, 129 

Boston, British troops in, 166; evac- 
uated, 177 

Boston Port Bill, 164 

Boston Tea Party, 164 

Boyd, Colonel, killed at Kettle Creek, 
187 

Braddock, Edward, defeated, 127 

Bradstreet, John, takes Fort Frontcnac, 
130 

Bragg, Braxton, quoted, 371; super- 
sedes Beauregard, 417; Kentucky 
campaign, 418; opposes Rosecrans at 
Murfreesboro and defeats Rosecrans 
at Chickamauga, 419-420; defeated 
at Lookout Mountain and Mission- 
ary Ridge, 420; superseded by John- 
ston, 433 

Brandywine, battle, 181 

Brazil, discovered, 37 

Brazos Santiago, 439 

Breckinridge, John C, elected vice- 
president, 359-360; candidate for 
presidency, 365; defeats Federals at 
New Market, 433 

Bristoe action, 432 

Brock, Isaac, 265; 270 

Brook Farm, 320 

Brown, Jacob, 266 

Brown, John, in Kansas, 35S; at Har- 
per's Ferry, 363-364 

Brownsville, Texas, occupied by Fed- 
erals, 416 

Bryan, W. J., speech at Chicago, 526; 
campaign for presidency, 527; sec- 
retary of state, 563 

Bo'ant, W. C, 275 

Buchanan, James, 350; elected presi- 
dent, 35q; urges acquisition of Cuba, 
363; on Panama Canal, 363 

Buckner, Simon B., at Fort Donelson, 
409 

Buell, Don Carlos, 409; at Shiloh, 410; 
operations in Kentucky, 418; super- 
seded by Rosecrans, 419 

Buena Vista, battle, 343 



Bull Run, or Manassas, battle, 387-390; 
second battle, 428 

Bunker Hill, battle, 174 

Bureau of Corporations, established, 
553 

Bureau of Labor, established, 498 

Burgess, John W., quoted, 323; 361; 
45S; 460 ftn.; 461; 462 ftn.; 473 

Burgesses, Virginia house of, established, 
53 

liurgoyne, John, advance into New 
York, 179; surrender of, 180 

Burke, Edmund, i6i 

Burlingame treaty, 467 

Bumside, A. E., at Knoxville, 420; at 
Fredericksburg, 429-430 

Burr, Aaron, elected vice-president, 247; 
duel with Hamilton, 258; downfall, 
258 

Burrell, Isaac S., defeated at Galveston, 
41S 

Bustamante, Anastasio, forbids immi- 
gration, 335 

Butler, B. F., 397; 402; rigorously rules 
at New Orleans, 414-415; superseded 
by Banks, 415; commands Army of 
the James, 433; repulsed by Beau- 
regard, 433; siege of Petersburg, 435 

Butler, W. O., candidate for vice-presi- 
dency, 345 

Cabeza de Vaca, A. V., 40 

Cabot, John and Sebastian, 36 

Cabral, Pedro, discovers Brazil, 37 

Cahokia, taken by Clark, 200 

Calhoun, John C, 271; secretary of 
war, 272; vice-president, 272; elected 
vice-president again, 290; defeats 
tariff bill, 293; issues Exposition and 
Protest, 294; at Jefferson's Birthday 
banquet, 302; becomes a senator, 302; 
issues Address to the People, 302; 
death, 353 

CaUfornia, acquired by conquest, 342; 
ceded by Mexico, 343; gold discov- 
ered in, 347 

Calvert, George, Cecil and Leonard, 
60-61 

Cambridge, 166; 176 

Camden, Earl of, 161 

Camden, occupied by British, 190; bat- 
tle, 191 

Campbell, Colonel, in Georgia, 187; 188; 
in Florida, 190 



XXXll 



INDEX 



Campbell, John A., 378-379; at Hamp- 
ton Roads Conference, 438 

Canada, invasion of, 176; 265 

Canby, E. R. S., in New Mexico, 408 

Capital, the, compromise concerning, 
235-236 

Carib, 15 

Carleton, Guy, wins victory on Lake 
Champlain, 177 

Carnegie, A., endows Hague Conference, ■ 

563 I 

Carolinas settled, 65-71 
Caroline, Fort, 42 

Carpetbag government, 455; 460; 463 
Carteret, George, 81; 83; 84 
Cartier, Jacques, 36; 115 
Carver, John, 94 
Cass, Lewis, candidate for presidency, 

345 ; mentioned, 350 
Cedar Creek, battle, 438 
Cedar Mountain, battle, 427 
Centennial Exposition, 468-469 
Centralization, 220; 271, 276 
Century Magazine, 486 
Cerro Gordo, battle, 343 
Cervera, Admiral, 536-537 
Chambersburg, burned, 438 
Champlain, Samuel de, 77; 116-117 
Champlain, Lake, naval battle, 269 
Chancellorsville, battle, 430 
Charles I, 56; 60; 85; 97; 98 
Charles IL 58; 65; 85 
Charleston, settled, 67; taken by Brit- 
ish, 190; in Civil War, 377; 437 
Charter colonies, 142 
Chase, S. P., 353; at Peace Conference, 

370; mentioned, 449 
Chattahoochee river, 73; 435 
Chattanooga campaigns, 416-420 
Cherry Valley, 200 
Cherubusco, battle, 343 
Chesapeake and Leopard, 261; and 

Shannon, 268 
Chew, R. S., messenger, 380 
Chickahominy river, 424; 426 
Chickamauga, battle, 419-420 
Chickasaw Bluffs, assault, 412 
Chihuahua, taken by Doniphan, 343 
Chile, revolution, 276; relations with, 

512 
China, treaty with, 497 
Chinese Exclusion Bill, vetoed by 

Hayes, 497 
Chippewa, battle, 266 



Christina, Fort, 80, 89 
Christina, Queen, 88 
Church of England, 82; 107; 140; 148 
Civil Rights Act, 453 
Civil Service, 299; 482-485 
Civil Sers'ice League, 485 
Claiborne, William, 57 
Clarendon, county of, 66 
Clark, George Rogers, 199-200 
Clark, William, explorations, 255 
Clarke, Elijah, 192 

Clay, Henry, peace commissioner, 270- 
271; reverses position on national 
bank, 274; champions protective 
tariff, 276; advocates Missouri com- 
promise, 286; candidate for presi- 
dency, 289; 337; favors Adams for 
president, 291; appointed secretary 
of state by Adams, 291 ; investigated, 
292; advocates compromise of tariff, 
303; leader of Whig party, 331; leads 
compromise of 1850, 348; death, 353 
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 344; 549 
Cleveland, Grover, 487; candidate for 
presidency, 488; character, 488; 
elected, 489; elected, 514; policies, 
S18-519 
Clinton, Henry, captures Forts Mont- 
gomery and Clinton, 181; succeeds 
Howe, 184; evacuates Philadelphia, 
184; at battle of Monmouth, 184; 
defeated at Fort Moultrie, 186; takes 
Charleston, 190; proclamations, 191 
Coahuila, 336 
Cobb, Howell, president Confederate 

Congress, 372 
Colombia, revolution in, 276; treaty 

with, 346; 549 
Colonial commerce, 137 
Colonial development, 147-148 
Colonial representation, 151-152 
Colonizing, motives for, log; 146 
Colorado admitted, 475 
Columbia College, 140 
Columbia, District of, 348; 448 
Columbia, S. C, burned, 437 
Columbus, Christopher, 31-35 
Commerce of the colonies, 137 
Commissioners from C. S., 373-374; 

378-379 
Commissioners from S. C, 367 
Committees of correspondence, 172; 

206; 207 
Concord, 167 



INDEX 



XXXlll 



Confederacy projected, 369 

Confederate States, Congress of, 372; 
Constitution of, 373; commissioners 
to U. S. from, 373-374; 378-379 

Confederation, Articles of, adopted by 
Congress, 209; ratified by states, 212; 
weakness of, 214-217 

Confederation, New England, 104-109 

Congress, first colonial, 82 

Congress, powers of, 221 

Conkling, Roscoe, 482 

Connecticut, settled, 103; Fundamental 
orders of, 103; western land claims, 
211 — yielded, 212; in Constitutional 
convention, 219; ratifies Constitu- 
tion, 223; refuses troops in 1812, 263 

Conservation, urged by Roosevelt, 546- 
548; Reclamation Act, 547; National 
Forest Reserves, 547-548; Inland 
Waterways Commission, 548; Na- 
tional Rivers and Harbors Congress, 
548 

Constantinople, captured by Turks, 30 

Constitution, C. S., 373 

Constitution, U. S., analysis of, 221; 
purpose, 225 

Constitution and Gucrriere, 266 

Constitutional Convention, 217-223; 
compromises in, 220; ratification by 
states, 223-224 

Constitutional Union Party, 365 

Continental Congress, first, 165-166; 
second, 172; flees from Philadelphia, 
183 

Convention, at Alexandria, 217; at 
Mount Vernon, 217; at Annapolis, 
217; Constitutional, 217-223; Hart- 
ford, 264; Montgomery, 372 

Conway Cabal, 182 

Conway, Henry Seymour, 161 

Cooper, J. F., 275 

Corinth, battle, 417 

Cornwallis, Charles, campaign in New 
Jersey, 178; mentioned, 187; ad- 
vances in S. C, 190; advances into 
N. C. and retires, 192; pursuit of 
Greene, 193-194; at Guilford Court- 
house, 194; advances into Virginia, 
196; surrenders at Yorktown, 197 

Corporations, 501 

Corporations and Trusts, 552-556 

Corte-Real, Caspar, 38 

Cortez, Hernando, 38 

Cotton, 282; 283 



Cotton gin, 283 

Cowpens, battle, 193 

Coxey's army, 521 

Crawford, M. J., commissioner to U. S., 
379 

Crawford, W. H., candidate for presi- 
dency, 289 

Credit Mobilier, 474 

Creeks, war with the, 269; treaty with, 
293 

Crittenden, G. B. and T. L., 383-384 

Crittenden resolutions, 369-370 

Cromwell, Oliver, 57 

Cross Keys, action at, 425 

Crown Point, 127; 130; 171 

Cuba, J. Q. Adams's desire, 291; Ostend 
manifesto, 359; conditions in, 531- 
533; attempts to purchase, 531; op- 
pressed by Spain, 532; Ten Years' 
War in, 533; resolutions in Congress 
in regard to, 534; government for, 

S4I 

Cullom, S. M., 503 

Cunningham, Gustavus, 186 

Currency, problems of, 476-482; re- 
sumption of specie payments, 479; 
surplus in treasury, 493-494 

Currency and Banking, 561-562 

Curtis, B. R., dissent in Dred Scott 
case, 361-362 

Czar, the, calls peace conference, 563 

Da Gama, Vasco, 37 

Dakota, organized, 475 

Dale, Thomas, 52-53 

Dallas, G. M., elected vice-president, 
337-338 

Dare, Virginia, 46 

Dartmouth College, 274 

Davenport, John, 104 

Davis, Jefferson, becomes prominent, 
353; quotations from speech of res- 
ignation from U. S. Senate, 366; fa- 
vors Crittenden resolutions, 370; 
president C. S., 372; calls for volun- 
teers, 382; appoints Lee to command, 
425; relieves J. E. Johnston, 435; 
aggressiveness, 436; retreat from Rich- 
mond, 441; imprisonment and re- 
lease, 444 

Dawes, William, 167 

Dearborn, Henry, 265, 266 

Debs, E. v., 522 

Decatur, Stephen, 259; 268 



XXXIV 



INDEX 



Declaration Act, i6i 

Declaration of Rights (1765), 160; 
(1774), 165 

Declaration of Independence, 175 

De Coronado, Francisco, 40 

Deerfield massacre, 123 

Dc Gourgues, D., 43 

Dc Grasse, Count, in Chesapeake bay, 
ig6 

De Kalb, Johann, killed, igi 

Delaware, settled by Swedes, 88; rati- 
fies Constitution, 223 

Delaware, Lord (Thomas West), 52; 88 

De Leon, Ponce, 35-36 

De Lesseps, Ferdinand, 549 

Democracy, the new, 545-546 

Democratic Party, or party of Jcflerson, 
called Republicans, 234; called Dem- 
ocrats opprobriously, 241; called 
Federal Republicans, 250; the only 
party, 288; called Democratic Re- 
publicans, 293 

"Demonetization" of silver, 480 ftn. 

De Monts, Pierre, 116 

De Narvaez, Panfilo, 38-39 

Department of Commerce and Labor, 

553 
De Soto, Hernando, 40 
D'Estaing, Charles H., 184; 185; 187; 

190 
Detroit, trading-post, 199; surrendered 

by Hull, 265 
Dew, Professor, quoted, 324-325 
Dewey, George M., battle Manila bay, 

535 

Dickinson, John, 174; draft of Confed- 
eration, 209 

Dinwiddle, Robert, 125 

Dissenters, 66; 92 

Dongan, Thomas, 82 

Doniphan, A. W., takes Chihuahua, 
343 

Dorr's rebellion, 321 

Douglas, Stephen A., 346; 353; intro- 
duces Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 354; de- 
bates with Lincoln, 363; candidate 
for presidency, 365 

Dowling, R. W., 416 

Drake, Francis, 44 

Duke's Laws, 80 

Dunmore's War, 198-199 

I)ui>ont, S. F., 403 

Durant, George, 66 

Duryea, R. S., 378 



Dutch, the, settlements in New Ncth- 
erland, 77-78; beginning of repre- 
sentative government in New York, 
79; clash with Swedes, 79-80; men- 
tioned, 84; 87; 89; 135; 147 
Dutch East India Company, 76 
Dutch West India Company, 77 

Early, Jubal A., defeats Wallace and 
threatens Washington, 437; defeated 
by Sheridan, 438 

East in 1876, the, 475 

Eaton, Theophilus, 104 

Edmunds, G. F., 487 

Education in the colonies, 140 

Egypt, IS 

Electoral commission, 464 

Electoral vote-counting act, 495 

Elizabeth, Queen, 44 

Elk Horn, or Pea Ridge, battle, 411 

Elkins bill, 503 

Ellsworth, Elmer, killed, 384 

Emancipation proclamation, 401-402 

Embargo Act, 260 

Emerson, R. W., 320; 364 

Emigrant Aid Society, in Kansas trou- 
bles, 355-356 

Emuckfau, battle, 269 

Endicott, John, 97 

English, W. H., candidate for vice- 
presidency, 483 

Erie Canal, 18; 551 

Erskine, envoy from Great Britain, 262 

Eskimo, 15; 19 

Evans, Nathan G., at Manassas, 387- 
388 

Ewell, R. S., 425; defeats Milroy, 431 

Excise, 234 

Exeter, attack by Indians, 123 

Expositions, Centennial at Philadelphia, 
468-469; Pan American at Buffalo, 
544; Panama Canal, at San Francisco, 
551 

Farmers' Alliance, 510 

Farragut, D. G., takes New Orleans, 

410-411 
Federal Election Law, 509 
Federal Republican Party, 288 
Federalist, The, 223 
Federalist Party, 222; 226; becomes 

National Republican Party, 271 
Ferdinand, King, 11 
Ferguson, Patrick, killed, 192 



INDEX 



XXXV 



Fernandina occupied by Federals, 404 

Field, Cyrus W., 467 

Fifty-four forty, or fight, 337 

Fillmore, Millard, succeeds Taylor, 350; 
candidate of Know-Nothings, 359 

Finances of Revolution, 200-201 

Fisheries of Newfoundland, 115; 202; 
of Bering Sea, 512 

Fisher's Hill, battle, 438 

Fishing Creek, or Mill Springs, engage- 
ment, 408 

Fiske, John, quoted, 103 

Five Forks, action at, 441 

Fletcher, Governor, 83 

Florida, discovered, 36; invaded by 
Jackson, 273; acquisition of, 273; 
admitted, 338; secedes, 372 

Floyd, John B., at Fort Donelson, 409 

Foote, A. H., 407; takes Fort Henry, 
408; at Island No. 10, 410 

Foote Resolution, 301 

Force Bill, in regard to nullification, 303 

Foreign relations with: Great Britain 
and Spain, 215; France, 240-244; 
Tripoli, 259; Great Britain, 259—263; 
France concerning Mexico, 466; 
Great Britain as to the Alabama and 
the fisheries, 464-467; Russia re- 
garding Alaska, 467; European na- 
tions in regard to immigrants, 467; 
Hawaii, 522-523 

Forest Reserves, National, 547 

Forest Service, National, 548 

Forrest, N. B., 418 

Forts, Caroline, 42; Christina, 80; 
Clark, taken by Federals, 402; Clin- 
ton, taken by British, 181; Donelson, 
surrendered to Grant, 408-409; Du- 
quesne, 129; Edward, 180; Fisher, 
taken by Federals, 405; Granby, sur- 
render by British, 195; Gregg, de- 
fence of, 441; Griffin, defence of, 416; 
Hatteras, taken by Federals, 402; 
Henry, taken by Foote, 408; Jackson, 
bombarded by Farragut, 410; Leaven- 
worth, 341; LeBoeuf, 125; Lee, taken 
by British, 177-178; Macon, 403; 
McHenry, bombardment of, 269; 
Mimms, massacre, 269; Montgomery, 
taken by British, 181; Motte, taken 
by Marion and Lee, 195; Moultrie, de- 
fence of, 186; evacuated by Anderson, 
368; Necessity, 126; Niagara, taken 
by Johnson, 130; Oswego, 127; 128; 



Pickens, held by Federals, 371; Pillow, 
evacuated by Confederates, 411; Pu- 
laski, taken by F"ederals, 403-404; 
Recovery, 23S; Stanwix (or Schuy- 
ler) besieged by St. Leger, 181; St. 
Philip, bombarded by Farragut, 410; 
Stedman, assault by Gordon, 441; 
Sumter, 367-368; 381; Washington, 
taken by British, 177-178; Watson, 
taken by Marion and Lee, 195; Whit- 
worth, defence of, 441; William 
Henry, 127; 128 

France, claims, to America, 41; efforts 
at settlement, 42; in Holy Alliance, 
276; diplomacy to stop Civil War in 
America, 400-401 

Franklin, battle, 436 

Franklin, Benjamin, at Albany con- 
gress, 126; 206; in regard to Stamp 
Act, 157; 158; returns from England, 
174; peace commissioner, 202; plan 
of Union, 208; member of Constitu- 
tional convention, 21S 

Franklin, state of, 212, 

Frederick the Great, 70 ftn.; 184 

Fredericksburg, battle, 430 

Freedmen's Bureau, 452 

Freedmen, vagrancy laws, 450-451 

Free-soil Party, 346; 351 

Fremont, J. C, in California, 342; can- 
didate for presidency, 359-360 

French aggression upon American com- 
merce, 260 

French Directory, 243 

French in Mexico, the, 466 

French revolution, 238 

Fugitive slave laws, 313; 348-349; re- 
pealed, 448 

Fulton, Robert, 273; 274 

Fundamental Constitutions, Locke's, 66 

Gabriel insurrection, the, 322 

Gadsden purchase, the, 422 

Gage, Thomas, 165; 166; 167 

Gaines's Mill, battle, 426 

Gallatin, Albert, peace commissioner, 

270 
Galveston, blockaded, 402; combat, 415 
Galvez, Bernardo, takes Mobile, 190 
Garfield, James A., elected president, 

483; death, 484 
Garland, W. H., 493 ftn. 
Garrison. W. L., 318; 321; 326 
Gas pee, The, 166 



XXX VI 



INDEX 



Gates, Horatio, opposes Carlcton, 177; 
supersedes Schuyler, 180; concerned 
in Conway cabal, 182; defeated at 
Camden, 191; superseded by Greene, 
193 

Geary, J. W., 358 

Genet, E. C, minister from France to 
U. S., 240 

Geneva arbitration, 467 

George, Henry, 501 

George HI, ambition of, 152; 155 

Georgia, settled, 71-74; instructs for 
independence, 175; western land 
claims, 211 — yielded, 212; ratifies 
Constitution, 223; trouble with Creeks, 
2Q3; secedes, 372 

Germanna ford, 432; 434 

Germans, 7; 87; 135; 147 

Germantown, battle, 181 

Germany, influence of in Samoa, 513 

Gerry, Elbridge, oppyoses Constitution, 
220; commissioner to France, 243 

Gettysburg, battle, 431-432 

Ghent, treaty of, 270-271 

Giddings, J. R., 326, 

Gilbert, Humphrey, 45 

Goethals, G. W., 550 

Goldsborough, L. M., 402-403 

Gordon, J. B., assaults Fort Stedman, 
441 

Gorges, Ferdinando, gi 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 46 

Government, local in the colonies, 144; 
working out form of, 208; by secre- 
taries, 2g7 

Grant, U. S., battle at Belmont, 408; 
takes Fort Donelson, 409; at Shiloh, 
40Q-410; passes Vicksburg, 412; bat- 
tles of Champion Hill and Big Black, 
413; Vicksburg surrenders, 414; at 
Chattanooga, 420; commander-in- 
chief, 432; Wilderness campaign, 434; 
crosses James and besieges Peters- 
burg, 435; pursues Lee, 441; great- 
ness at Appomattox, 442; elected 
president, 457; character, 457; can- 
didate for third nomination, 483; 
troubles of administration, 483 ftn. 

Gray, Captain, visits Pacific coast, 256 

Great Britain, blockades European . 
ports, 259; impresses American sea- 
men, 260; resists Napoleon, 260; is- 
sues "orders in council," 262; abol- 
ishes slavery in West Indies, 317; in 



Oregon boundary, 340; in Trent af- 
fair, 395; in reply to France concern- 
ing Civil war, 401; in Alabama claims, 
468; in seal fisheries claims, 512; in 
Venezuela arbitration, 524 

Great Meadows, skirmish, 126 

Greeley, Horace, candidate for presi- 
dency, 463 

Greenback Party, 464; 478; 481 

Greene, Nathanael, supersedes Gates, 
193; famous retreat, 193; at Guilford 
Courthouse, 194; at Hobkirk's hill, 
195; assault on Ninety-Six, 195; bat- 
tle of Eutaw Springs, 196 

Greene, Roger, 66 

Grenville, George, prime minister, 154; 
155; 161 

Gridley, Jeremiah, 155 

Guadalupe-Hidalgo, treaty of, 343-344 

Guerriere and Constitution, 266 

Gustavus Adolphus, 88 

Habeas Corpus Act, 142 

Hague Conference, 563 

Hale, J. P., candidate for presidency, 
3SI 

Halifax, 177 

Halleck, H. W., 407; advances to Cor- 
inth, 416; supersedes McClellan as 
commander-in-chief, 417 

Hamilton, Alexander, member Consti- 
tutional convention, 218; offers plan 
for centralized government, 219; 
author Federalist, 223; antagonizes 
Adams, 227-228; secretary of the 
treasury, 228; political character, 
232; financial measures, 233-237; 
views in regard to French revolution, 
239; death, 258 

Hamilton, Andrew J., military governor 
of Texas, 415; 416 

Hampton, Wade, at Manassas, 388; 
succeeds Stuart, 434 

Hampton Roads, naval battle, 423; 
Conference, 438 

Hancock, John, 166; 167; 223 

Hancock, Winfield S., at Gettysburg, 
431; candidate for presidency, 483 

Hannaford, Ebenezer, quoted, 489 

Hardee, W. J., evacuates Savannah, 436 

Harmer, General, defeated by Indians, 
238 

Harper's Ferry, insurrection, 363-364; 
surrendered to Jackson, 429 



INDEX 



XXXVll 



Harriet Lane, the, captured by Confed- 
erates, 415 

Harrison, Benjamin, elected president, 
504; defeated by Cleveland, 514 

Harrison's Landing, 427 

Harrison, W. H., defeats Indians at 
Tippecanoe, 262; succeeds Hull, 265; 
elected president, 330; death, 331 

Harrod, James, settles in Kentucky, 198 

Hartford Convention, 264 

Hartstene, H. J., 378 

Harvard College, 60, 100; 140 

Harvard, John, loi 

Harvey, John, 56 

Hatteras, the, sunk by the Alabama, 395 
ftn. 

Havana, 132 

Hawaii, 522-523; annexation of, 539- 
S40 

Hawkins, John, 42; 44 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 320 

Hay, John, secretary of state, 549 

Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty, 550 

Hayes, R. B., candidate for presidency, 
464; seated by Electoral Commis- 
sion, 465; withdraws troops from 
South, 475 

Hay-Herran treaty, 550 

Hay-Pauncefote treaty, 549 

Hayne, R. Y., defends state rights, 301 

Heintzelman, S. P., battle of Manassas, 
387 

Henderson, J. Pinckney, 338 

Hendricks, T. A., candidate for vice- 
presidency, 465; elected vice-presi- 
dent, 489; death, 505 

Henry, Patrick, 159; 160; 163 

Herkimer, Nicholas, mortally wounded 
at Oriskany battle, 181 

Hill, A. P., in Seven Days' battles, 426; 
at Bristoe, 432; killed at Petersburg, 
441 

Hill, D. B., S04; S14 

Hill, D. H., in Seven Days' battles, 426 

Hobkirk's Hill, action at, 195 

Hobson, R. P., sinks Merrimac at San- 
tiago, 537 

Homestead Act, 473 

Hood, J. B., supersedes Johnston, 435; 
repulsed by Sherman in battles of 
Atlanta, 436; Tennessee campaign, 
436 

Hooker, Joseph, defeated at Chancellors- 
ville, 430 



Hooker, Thomas, 104 

Houston, Sam., in battle Tohopeka, 
270; defeats Santa Anna, 336 

Howard, Martin, 157 

Howe, William, at Bunker Hill, 174; 
evacuates Boston, 177; takes New 
York, 177; proclamation to America, 
178; defeats Washington at Brandy- 
wLne and Germantown, 181; 182; 
occupies Philadelphia, 181; suc- 
ceeded by Clinton, 184 

Howe, Richard, in command of British 
navy in America, 177 

Howe, Robert, defeated at Savannah, 
187; superseded by Lincoln, 188 

Howell, Clark, quoted, 486 

Hudson Bay Company, 117 

Hudson, Henry, 76; 88 

Hudson river section, the, 17 

Huger, Isaac, 194 

Huguenots in South Carolina, 69; 147 

HuU, William, surrenders Detroit, 265 

Hunter, David, at Manassas, 387; de- 
clares slaves free, and rebuked by 
Lincoln, 397; succeeds Sigel, 433; 
devastates Shenandoah Valley, and 
retreats before Early, 437 

Hunter, R. M. T., in Hampton Roads 
Conference, 438 

Hutchinson, Anne, 103 

Hutchinson, Thomas, 154-155; 160 

Iberville (Pierre LeMoyne) settles 

Biloxi and Mobile, 120 
Idaho, organized, 475; admitted, 495 

ftn. 
Illinois, admitted, 282 
Immigration, problems of, 496 
ImpUed powers, doctrine of, 236; 254 
Income tax, unconstitutional, 520; 

amendment ratified, 546 
Indentured servants, 54; 112 
Independent treasury, repealed, 331; 

reestabhshed, 345 
Indiana admitted, 282 
Indiana territory organized, 238 ' 
Industries, of the sections, 136-137; of 

New England, 151 
Internal improvements, 273; 281 
Interstate Commerce Act, 503 
Iowa admitted, 347 
Irish, the, 135 
Iroquois, subdivisions of, 26; at 

Wyoming, 200 



INDEX 



Irving, Washington, 275 
Isabella, Queen, ii; 33 
Island No. 10, surrendered to Federals, 

410 
luka, battle, 417 

Jackson, Andrew, defeats Indians in 
Alabama, 269; defeats British at 
New Orleans, 270; invades Florida, 
273; candidate for presidency, 290; 
elected president, 295; character, 
297-299; at JefiEerson's Birthday ban- 
quet, 302; opposes nulUfication, 303; 
re-elected, 306; destroys national 
bank, 308 

Jackson, Thomas Jonathan, at battle 
of Manassas, 388; wounded, 389; 
Valley campaigns, 425-426; junction 
with Lee, 426; Seven Days' battles, 
426-427; defeats Federals at Cedar 
Mountain, 427; marches to rear of 
Pope at Manassas, 427; captures 
Harper's Ferry, 429; battle of Sharps- 
burg, 429; mortally wounded at 
Chancellorsville, 430 

James I, 50; 92-93 

James II, 82 

James river, 426; 433 

Jamestown, settled, 50 

Jay, John, in relation to The Federalist, 
223 

Jay treaty, the, 242 

Jeflerson, Thomas, member Virginia 
Assembly, 163; author Declaration of 
Independence, 175; sentiment con- 
cerning the fKJople, 226; secretary of 
state, 228; political character, 231; 
opposes national bank, 236; in regard 
to French revolution, 239; elected 
vice-president, 243; author Ken- 
tucky resolutions, 246; elected presi- 
dent, 247; governmental policies, 
251-252; Louisiana Purchase, 253; re- 
elected president, 255; quoted con- 
cerning Massachusetts, 264; on Mis- 
souri and slavery, 285; for emancipa- 
tion in Virginia, 317; on negro slavery 
in U. S., 3SO 

Johnson, Andrew, senator, 396; military 
governor of Tennessee, 411; vice-presi- 
dent, 441; president, 443; Washing- 
ton's birthday speech, 450; amnesty 
proclamation, 450; opiX)ses Congress, 
452; removes Stanton, 456-457; im- 



peachment trial, 457; senator from 
Tennessee, 458 

Johnson, William, takes Fort Niagara, 
130 

Johnston, A. S., 407; retreats to Cor- 
inth, 409; death at battle of Shiloh, 
409-410 

Johnston, J. E., opposes Patterson, 385, 
joins Beauregard, 386; defeats Mc- 
Dowell, 387-389; efforts to relieve 
Vicksburg, 414; battle of Williams- 
burg, 423; battle of Seven Pines, 424- 
425; supersedes Bragg, 433; super- 
seded by Hood, 435; restored to com- 
mand, 437; surrender, 444 

Jones, Anson, 338 

Jones, Paul, naval exploits, 186 

Judiciary Act, 247 

Judiciary, the national, 229 

Julian, George W., candidate for vice- 
presidency, 351 

Kansas, disorders in, 356-358; 362; 
admitted, 363 

Kaskaskia, trading post, 199; taken by 
Clark, 200 

Kearny, Stephen W., 342-343 

Kearsarge, sinks the Alabama, 395 ftn., 
438 

Keith, Sir William, 157 

Kennesaw Mountain, assault, 435 

Kent Island, 57; 61 

Kentucky, early settlement in, 122; 
admitted, 238; resolutions, 246; at- 
tempts neutrality, 383; convention 
at Russellville, 383 

Kieft, Governor, 79-80 

King Philip's War, 107 

King's College (Columljia), 140 

King's Mountain, battle, 192 

Knights of Labor, 499 

Knox, Henry, secretary of war, 228 

Know-nothings (see American Party) 

Kosciusko, T., at Ninety-SLx, 195 

Labor and capital, 478; 498 
Labor Reform Party, 478 
Labor unions, 498 
Lalirador, 17; 38 

Lafayette, Marquis de, in Virginia, 198 
Lake Erie, naval battle, 268 
Lamar, L. Q. C, secretary of interior, 
493 ftn. 



INDEX 



XXXIX 



Lamon, W. H., 378 

Land Claims, western, 210; surrendered, 
2H -212 

Larcom, Lucy, 355 

La Salle, Robert Cavelicr, de, 118-119 

Laud, William, 148 

Laudonniere, Rene de, 42 

Lawton, H. W., at El Caney, 538 

Lecompton constitution, 362 

Lee, Charles, captured by British, 178 
ftn.; retreats at Monmouth, 184 

Lee, Fitzhugh, action at Five Forks, 441 

Lee, Henry, 187 ; takes Fort Watson, 
Fort Motte, and Augusta, 195 

Lee, Richard Henry, oSers resolution 
for independence, 209 

Lee, R. E., 425; defeats McClellan in 
Seven Days' battles, 426-427; de- 
feats Pope at Manassas, 428; op- 
poses McClellan at Sharpsburg, 429; 
defeats Burnside at Fredericksburg, 
430; defeats Hooker at Chancellors- 
ville, 430; repulsed by Meade at 
Gettysburg, 431—432; opposes Meade 
at Hagerstown, 432; advances against 
Meade at Bristoe, 432; opposes 
Meade at Mine Run, 432; opposes 
Grant in the Wilderness and Spott- 
sylvania, 434; and on the Chicka- 
hominy, 435; defends Petersburg 
and Richmond, 435; surrenders at 
Appomattox, 442 

Lee, S. D., repulses Sherman, 412 

Leisler, Jacob, 82 

Leopard and Chesapeake, 261 

Lewis, Meriwether, explorations, 255- 
256 

Lexington, 167 

Liberia, 318 

Liberal Republican Party, 463; 478; 

493 

Liberty Party, 326 

Liliuokalani, Queen, 522 

Lincoln, Abraham, 353; debates with 
Douglas, 363; elected president, 365; 
inaugurated, 376; sends messenger 
to Fort Sumter, 376; proposes amend- 
ment providing for compensatory 
emancipation, 400; emancipation 
proclamation, 400-401 ; Hampton 
Roads Conference, 438; death, 443; 
view of reconstruction, 447; second 
inaugural address, 448 

Literature, 275 



Litllc Bell and President, 262 

Livingston, R R., in Louisiana purchase, 
253; interested with Robert Fulton, 
274 

Locke, John, 66 

Lodge, David L., starts peace move- 
ment, 562 

London Company, the, 50 

Longfellow, H. W., antislavery poems, 
322 

Longstreet, James, at Chickamauga 
and Knoxville, 419-420; in Seven 
Days' battles, 426; at Second Ma- 
nassas, 428; at Suffolk, 430; wounded 
in Wilderness, 443 

"Looking Backward", 499 

Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, action 
on, 420 

Louisiana, admitted, 255; secedes, 372 

Louisiana Purchase, 253 

Louisburg, taken by Pepperell, 124; by 
Amherst, 129 

Lovejoy, E. P., 322 

Lowell, J. R., 322, quoted, 324 

Lundy, Benjamin, 321 

Lundy's Lane, battle, 266 

McClellan, G. B., operations in West 
Virginia, 385 ; commander-in-chief, 
390; character, 422; siege of York- 
town and battle of Williamsburg, 423; 
battle Seven Pines, 424; Seven Days' 
battles, 426-427; removed and re- 
stored to command, 429; attacks Lee 
at Sharpsburg, 429; superseded by 
Burnside, 430; candidate for presi- 
dency, 441 

McCormick, reaper, 310 

McCrady, Edward, quoted, 66 ftn.; 71 
ftn. 

McCulloch, Ben, 382; killed at Pea 
Ridge, 4n 

Macdonough, Thomas, 268; victory on 
Lake Champlain, 269 

McDowell, Irvin, 385; advances, 386; 
at Manassas, 387-390; ordered to 
join McClellan, 425; order counter- 
manded, 426 

McDuffie, George, criticises Clay, 292 

Mace, WiUiam H., quoted, 133 

Mcintosh, killed at Pea Ridge, 411 

McKinlcy Tariff Bill, 509 

McKinley, William, 509; candidate for 
presidency, 527; elected, 527; appeal 



xl 



INDEX 



to Spain, 534; message in regard to 
Cuba, S34; death, 544; on reciproc- 
ity. 557 

Madison, James, member constitutional 
convention, 218; relation to the Fed- 
eralist, 223; opposes national bank, 
236; prepares Virginia Resolutions, 
246; becomes president, 261 

Magellan, Ferdinand, 38 

Magna Charta, 142 

Magruder, J. B., at Galveston, 415; 
defends Yorktown, 423 

Maine, settled, 104; in relation to Mis- 
souri, 286; admitted, 286; boun- 
dary, 333 

Maine, the battleship, destruction of, 
533 

Malvern Hill, battle, 427 

Manassas, or Bull Run, first battle, 387- 
390; second battle, 428 

Manhattan Island, 80 

Manila bay, naval battle, 535-536 

Mann, Horace, 320 

Marlborough, duke of, 123 

Marion, Francis, 192; 193; takes Forts 
Watson and Motte, 195 

Marquette, James, 118 

Marshall, John, commissioner to France, 
243; chief justice in Burr trial, 258; 
decisions, 274 

Maryland, settled, 60-63; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 223; refuses to secede, 383 

Maskoki, subdivisions of, 26 

Mason, George, opposes Constitution, 
220 

Mason and Dixon's line, surveyed, 87 

Mason, J. M., Confederate commis- 
sioner to Great Britain, 395 

Massachusetts, 97-101; charter an- 
nulled, 108; revolution of, 166; in- 
structs for independence, 175; west- 
em land claims, 211 — yielded, 212; 
ratifies Constitution, 223 

Massasoit, 96 

Matamoras, 405 

MaximiHan I, 439; executed, 466 

Mayflower, the, 94 

Meade, G. G., 431; repulses Lee at 
Gettysburg, 432; at Flagerstown, at 
Bristoe and Mine Run, 432 

Mechanicsville, battle, 426 

Mecklenburg, declaration of independ- 
ence, 173; mentioned, 383 

Memphis, occupied by Federals, 411 



Menendez, 42 

Mexico, city of, 22; 25 

Mexico, republic of. Burr's design, 259; 
revolution in, 276; invites Americans 
to Texas, 355; war with U. S., 341- 
343; commerce with Confederacy, 
405; French occupation of, 439; 466 

Michigan, admitted, 339 

Miles, Nelson A., in Porto Rico, 539 

Mills, Roger Q., tariff bill, 500 

Mill Springs, or Fishing Creek, engage- 
ment, 408 

Mine Run, Lee opposes Meade, 432 

Minuet, Peter, 80; 88-89 

Missionaries, French, 11 7-1 18; Span- 
ish, 43 

Missionary ridge, battle, 420 

Mississippi, admitted, 282; secedes, 372 

Mississippi river, operations for the con- 
trol of, 407 

Missouri, admitted, 286; attempts neu- 
trality, 383 

Missouri and slavery, 282-284 

Missouri Compromise, the, 286 

Mobile settled, 120; taken by Galvez, 
190; blockaded, 402 

Molasses Act, 151 

Monckton, Robert, 128 

Monitor and Virginia, 423 

Monk, George, 66 ftn. 

Monmouth, battle, 184 

Monroe Doctrine, the, announced, 276; 
in Hampton Roads conference, 439; 
in regard to the French in Mexico, 
466; in regard to Venezuela, 523-524 

Monroe, James, minister to France, 
242; Louisiana Purchase, 253; abor- 
tive treaty with Great Britain, 260; 
elected president, 271; administra- 
tion, 272-278; re-elected, 272 

Montana, organized, 475; admitted, 
495 ftn. 

Montcalm, Marquis de, 130; defeats 
Abercrombie, 131; death at Quebec, 
1.54 

^[onterey, Calif., taken by Sloat and 
Stockton, 342 

Monterey, Mex., taken by Taylor, 342 

Montgomery, convention and Congress, 
372 

Montgomery, Richard, killed at Quebec, 
177 

Montreal, named by Cartier, 113 

Moore's Creek, action, 186 



INDEX 



xli 



Moravians in Georgia, 72 

Morgan, Daniel, at Saratoga, 180; vic- 
tory at Cowpens, 193 

Morgan, John H., operations, 418 

Mormonism, 320 

Morris, Robert, 201; 214 

Moultrie, William, defends Ft. Sullivan, 
186; operations in S. C, 188; i8g 

Mugwumps, 487; favor Cleveland, 488 

Napoleon I, consul, 244; sells Louisi- 
ana, 253; Berlin and Milan decrees, 
260; invades Russia, 263; abdication, 
268; at Elba, 270 

Napoleon III, 439; 466 

Nashville, battle of, 436 

Nassau, settled, 79; mentioned, 83 

Nation, The, 489 

National Republican Party, the, suc- 
ceeds the Federalist Party, 271; be- 
comes the nucleus of the Whig Party, 
308 

National Silver Party, branch of the 
Republicans, 528 

Naturalization Act, 244 

Navigation laws, 149-150; 154 

Nebraska, admitted, 454 

Negro domination, broken in South, 463 

Negro population, 135 

Negro slaves, first in colonies, 54 

Nevada, admitted, 475 

Neville, Inspector General, 234 

New Amsterdam, settled, 77; condi- 
tions in 1643, 78; surrendered to 
English, 80; retaken by Dutch, 81; 
ceded to England, 81 

New Berne, taken by Federals, 403 

New England, physical features, 17; 
town government, 18; colonization 
of, 91-109; Confederation, 104-109; 
Articles of, 105-106; slave traders, 
:^6; 151; manufacturers, 136; com- 
merce, 136-137; opposes war of 181 2, 
263-264; Emigrant Aid Society, 335- 
336 

Newfoundland, 115 

New France, 115-133; population, 127 

New Hampshire, settled, 104; instructs 
for independence, 175; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 223 

New Haven, 105 

New Hope Church, engagement, 435 

New Jersey, settled, 83-85; ratifies 
Constitution, 223 



New Mexico, Confederate invasion, 408 

New Netherland, 78 

New Orleans, settled by Bienville, 120; 
ceded by Spain to France, 252; block- 
aded, 402; taken by Farragut, 411 

Newport, Christopher, 50 

New Sweden, 89 

New York (city), surrender by Dutch 
and change of name, 80; treaty of 
cession, 81; first colonial congress, 
82; occupied by British, 177; evac- 
uated, 205 

New York (state), settled by the Dutch, 
77; ceded to England, 81; legislature 
suspended, 162; defeats amendment 
to Articles of Confederation, 217; 
western land claims, 211 — yielded, 
212; ratifies Constitution, 223 

Nicholson, Francis, 59; 82 

NicoUs, Governor, 80 

Ninety-Six, fortified by British, 190; 
besieged by Greene, 195; evacuated 
by British, 196 

Non-importation societies, 161 

Non-Intercourse Act, 261 

North Carohna, settled, 66; instructs 
for independence, 175; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 224; secedes, 383; western 
land claims, 211 — yielded, 212 

North Dakota, admitted, 495 ftn. 

North in 1876, 475 

North, Lord, offers to treat with col- 
onies, 184 

Northmen, 32 

Northwest Territory, government of, 
213 

Nueces river, 341 

Nullification, 302-303 

Oglethorpe, James, 71-74; no 

Ohio admitted, 238 

Ohio Company, the, 124 

Olmstead, C. H., surrenders Fort Pu- 
laski, 403-404 

Omnibus bill, the, 348 

Opecancanough, 55 ftn. 

Orange, Fort, 77 

Ord, E. O. C, commands Army of the 
James, 441 

Oregon, Spain yields claims to, 273; 
mentioned, 334; 337; boundary set- 
tled, 340 

Oregon, the battleship, 536 

Oriskany, battle, 181 



zlii 



INDEX 



Osgood, Samuel, postmaster-general, 228 
Ostend Manifesto, 359; 531 
Oswego, 127; 128 
Otis, James, 155; 157; 158; 160 
Owen, Robert, 320 

Pacific Ocean, discovered by Balboa, 35 

Pacific Railroad, 468; 474 

Pakenham, at New Orleans, 270 

Palmer, John M., candidate for presi- 
dency, 528 

Palo Alto, action, 341 

Panama, secession, 550 

Panama Canal, 344 

Panama Congress, 292 

Panic, financial, 308 

Paris, treaty of, between Great Britain 
and France, 132 

Paris, treaty of, between Great Britain 
and U. S., terms of, 202; violations 
of, 216; 241 

Parker, Hyde, at Savannah, 187 

Parker, Peter, at Ft. Moultrie, 186 

Parker, Theodore, abolitionist, 364 

Patrons of Husbandry', 479 

Patroons, 78-79; 139; 321 

Patterson, Robert, 385-387; 390 

Paxton, Charles, 154 

Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, 558 

Peace movement, 562 

Peace Conference, the Hague, 563 

Peace Congress, 370-371 

Pea Ridge, or Elk Horn, battle, 411 

Pemberton, J. C, surrenders Vicksburg, 
414 

Pendleton, G. H., civil service bill, 485 

Penn, William, 84; 85; 205 

Pennsylvania, settled, 85; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 223 

Pennsylvania College, 140 

Pensions, increasing, 494; 508 

People's Party, or Populists, 514; 528 

Pepperell, William, 124 

Pequots, war with, 105 

Perry, O. H., battle on Lake Erie, 268 

Perryville, Ky., battle, 418 

Petition of right, 99; 142 

Pettigrew, J. J., 431 

Philadelphia, founded, 86; occupied by 
British, 181; evacuated, 184 

Philippines, 38; 534-535 

Phillips, General, death, 196 

Phillips, Wendell, 453 

Pickens, Andrew, 187; 195 



Pickens, F. W., 376; 377; 378; 380 

Pickett, George E., 431 

Pierce, Franklin, elected president, 350- 
351^ 

Pike, Zcbulon M., explorations, 256 

Pilgrims, the, 94-97 

Pinckney, Charles, member Constitu- 
tional Convention, 219 

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, minister 
to France, 243 

Pinckney, Thomas, candidate for vice- 
presidency, 242 

Pinkney, William, 260 

Pitcairn, John, 167 

Pitt, William, 128; 161; 162 

Piatt, T. C, resigns senatorship, 484 

Plymouth Company, 50; 91 

Plymouth settled, 94-97 

Pocahontas, 55 ftn. 
■ Point Pleasant, Indian battle, 199 

Political conditions in the colonies, 143- 
144 

Polk, James K., elected president, 337- 
338 

Polk, Lconidas, battle of Belmont, 408 

Polo, Marco, 29 

Pontiac, 24 

Pope, John, at Island No. 10, 410; or- 
dered to Virginia, 417; defeated by 
Lee, 428 

Popham, George, 91 

Population, colonial, 135; 170 

Populists, see People's Party 

Porter, David, 268 

Porter, Fitz John, 426; 429 

Port Hudson, 412; surrenders to Banks, 
414 

Porto Rico, 539; government in, 542 

Port Royal, Acadia, 116; captured, 
123 

Port Royal, S. C, 42; captured by 
Federals, 403 • 

Potomac river, navigation of, 217; 
mentioned, 429; 430; 437 

Pottawatomie, 358 

Powhatan, 55 ftn. 

Pratt, Benjamin, quoted, 155 ftn. 

Preble, Edward, in Tripoli war, 259 

President and Litlle Bell, 262 

Presidential Succession Act, 494 

Prevost, Augustine, in Georgia, 188; 
in South Carolina, 1S9 

Prevost, George, defeated at Plattsburg, 
269 



INDEX 



xliii 



Price, Sterling, 412; at luka and Cor- 
inth, 417 

Princeton College, 140 

Pring, Martin, 46 

Proclamation of Neutrality, Washing- 
ton's, 240 

"Progress and Poverty", 499 

Progressive Republican Party, 560 

Prohibition Party, 464 

Proprietary Colonies, 142 

Providence, settled, 102 

Provincial Colonies, 142 

Prussia, in Holy Alliance, 276 

Pueblos, 24 

Pulaski, Casimir, death at Savannah, 
190 

Pullman Car Company, 521 

Punitive Acts, 164 

Puritans, 92; 98 

Putnam, Israel, 180 

Quakers, 84; 85 

Quartering troops, 164 

Quebec, surrendered to British, 132; 

capital, 164 
Queenstown, action, 266 
Quincy, Josiah, favors secession, 264 
Quit-rents, 71 ftn. 

Railways, consolidation of, 478; tyr- 
anny of, 502 

Raleigh, Walter, 45 

Randall, J. R., 382 ftn. 

Randolph, Edmund, member of Con- 
stitutional Convention, 219; 220 

Randolph, Edward, 108 

Rapidan river, 432; 434 

Rappahannock river, 428; 430 

Rawdon, Francis, defeats Greene at 
Hobkirk's Hill, igs 

Reagan, John B., imprisoned, 444; in- 
terstate commerce act, 503 

Reclamation Act, 547 

Reconstruction, Lincoln's view of, 445; 
Johnson's policy, 449; undertaken 
by Congress, 451; Committee of 
Fifteen, 454; the Reconstruction Act, 
454-455; the Loyal League, 460; Ku- 
Klux Klan, 460; Enforcement Acts, 
461 

Reed, T. B., speaker, 50S 

Renaissance, the, 8 

Representation, 151; in parliament, 
158; 162 



Republican Party, organized, 359; ef- 
forts to reform, 487 

Resaca, engagement, 435 

Resaca de la Palma, action, 341 

Revere, Paul, 167 

Revolution, tendencies of the, 206-208 

Rhode Island, settled, 102; defeats 
amendment to Articles of Confedera- 
tion, 217; not represented in Consti- 
tutional Convention, 219; ratifies 
Constitution, 224 

Ribault, John, 42 

Richmond, Ky., battle, 418 

Richmond, Va., becomes Confederate 
capital, 384 

Rochambeau, Count, 196 

Rolfe, John, 55 ftn. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, becomes presi- 
dent, 544; message on forests and 
irrigation, 546; message on forest 
conservation, 547; appoints Inland 
Waterways Commission, 548; ne- 
gotiates Hay-Herran treaty, 550; 
message on corporations and trusts, 
553; candidate of Progressive Repub- 
licans, 560; calls second Peace Con- 
ference at Hague, 563 

Root, Elihu, Utica speech, 553 

Rosecrans, W. S., at luka and Corinth, 
417; supersedes Buell, 418; battle 
of Murfreesboro, 419; defeated at 
Chickamauga, 420 

Ross, Robert, burns Washington public 
buildings; killed near Baltimore, 269 

Russell, Jonathan, peace commissioner, 
270 

Russia, in Holy Alliance, 276; in regard 
to Alaska, 277; in regard to Civil 
War, 401 

Sabine Cross Roads, or Mansfield, 

Banks defeated by Taylor, 416 
Sabine Pass, action at, 416 
St. Augustine, founded, 43; threatened 

by Oglethorpe, 74 
St. Clair, Arthur, defeated by Indians. 

238 
St. John's river, 42; 43 
St. Leger, Barry, 179; 180; at Fort 

Stanwi.x, 181 
St. Louis, settled, 120 
Salisbury, Lord, 524 
Salmon Falls, attacked by Indians, 123 
Salzburghers, in Georgia, 72 



xliv 



INDEX 



Sampson, W. T., battle of Santiago, 

536; 537; 538 

Sandys, Edwin, 53 

Santa Anna, defeated by Houston, 336; 

defeated by Taylor, 343 
Santa Fe, founded, 43; occupied by 

Kearny, 342 
Santiago de Cuba, 536-538 
Saratoga, surrender of Burgoyne, 180 
Savannah, settled, 72; taken by British, 

187; assault upon, igo 
Sayle, William, 67 

Schenectady attacked by Indians, 123 
Schley, W. S., battle of Santiago, 536; 

537; 538 

Schofield, John M., battle of Franklin, 
436 

Schuyler, PhiUp, opposes Carleton, 177; 
superseded, 180 

Scotch, 72; 84; 135; 147 

Scotch-Irish, 147; igS 

Scott, Dred, history of the case, 360-362 

Scott, John, quoted, 356 

Scott, Winfield, campaign in Mexico, 
266; candidate for presidency, 350- 
351; advises Lincoln, 376; orders to 
Patterson, 386; retirement, 390 

Seal fisheries, 512 

Secession of S. C, 366; of six states, 
371; of four states, 382-383 

Sedition Act, 245 

Seven Days' battles, 426-427 

Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, battle, 424- 

425 

Sevier, John, 212 

Seward, W. H., 343; secretary of state, 
373; 379-380; in Hampton Roads 
conference, 438; relations with France, 
466 

Seymour, Horatio, candidate for presi- 
dency, 457 

Shafter, W. R.. 537; 538 

Shannon and Chesapeake, 268 

Sharps' rifles, 356 

Sharpsburg, or Antietam, battle, 428- 
429 

Shays's insurrection, 216 

Sheridan, P. H., defeats Early, 438; 
joins Grant, 441; at Five Forks, 441; 
at Appomattox, 442 

Sherlock, Thomas, 148 

Sherman, John, secretary of the treas- 
ury, 482 ftn.; mentioned, 483; sena- 
tor, 495; 508 



Sherman Silver Act, 510; repealed, 519 

Sherman, Thomas W., 403 

Sherman, \V. T., at Chickasaw Bluffs, 
412; commands in West, 433; At- 
lanta campaign, 435; battles of At- 
lanta, 436; march to Savannah, 436; 
march through South Carolina, 437; 
receives surrender of Johnston, 444; 
on Mexican border, 466 

Shinplasters, 482 ftn. 

Shirley, William, 157 

Sibley, Henry Hopkins, in New Mexico, 
408 

Sigel, Franz, at New Market, 433 

Silver, 479; 525 

Slavery, in Virginia, 54; in Carolina, 
6g; in Georgia prohibited, 72-73; 
admitted, 74; in 1760, 135-137; com- 
promise in the Constitutional con- 
vention, 220; in regard to Missouri, 
282-286; in the North, 287; slavery 
and the Constitution, 313-315; in 
District of Columbia, 315; 448; eco- 
nomically considered, 315-319; mor- 
ally considered, 319-325; test case 
in controversy, 328 

Slidell, John, C. S. Commissioner to 
France, 395 

Smith, E. Kirby, at Manassas, 389; at 
Richmond, Ky., 418 

Smith, John, 17; 51; 55 ftn.; 91 

Smith, Joseph, 320 

Smith, Lt. Colonel, 167 

Smuggling, 154 

Social conditions in the colonies, 138-139 

Sons of Liberty, 161 

South, physical features of, iS; for the 
Constitution, 286-2S7; hope in Jack- 
son disappointed, 300; in 1876, 472; 
withdrawal of troops from, 476 

South Carolina, settled, 67; organizes 
state government, 175; western land 
claims, 211 — yielded, 212; ratifies 
Constitution, 223; fears the first tar- 
iff, 233; nullification in, 302-303; re- 
vokes nullification ordinance, 304; se- 
cedes, 366; suffers under Sherman, 
437 

South Dakota, admitted, 495 ftn. 

Spain, claims to America, 41; efforts at 
settlement, 42; cedes Florida to U. S., 
273; war with U. S., 531-539 

Spain, treaties with, 252; 273; of peace 
with, 539 



INDEX 



xlv 



Specie circular, issued by President 

Jackson, 308 
Spencer magazine rifle, 382; 438 
Spottsylvania, battle, 434 
"Squatter sovereignty", 363 
"Stalwarts", 482; 484 
Stamp Act proposed, 155; passed, 15C; 

opposition to, 159 
Stamp Act Congress, 160; effects, 161 
Standard Oil Company, 555 
Stanton, E. M., removed by Johnson, 

457 
Stapling, 150 

Stark, John, at Bennington, 180 
Star of the West, the, attempt to relieve 

Fort Sumter, 368-369 
State rights doctrine, 207-208; 211-212; 

225-226; 246; 263-264; 293; 295; 

301; 302; 326-328 
Stephens, A. H., 353; vice-president, 

C. S., 372; financial plan, 382; in 

Hampton Roads Conference, 439; 

imprisonment, 444 
Steuben, F. von, 1S2 
Stevens, Thaddeus, 449; 453 
Stewart, Colonel, at Eutaw Springs, 196 
Stillwater, 180 

Stony Point, stormed by Wayne, 185 
Stowe, Mrs. H. B., 349 
Strasburg, action, 425 
Stringham, S. H., in council with Lin- 
coln, 376; naval operations, 402 
Stuart, J. E. B., rides around McClel- 

lan's army, 426; 430; death, 434 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 79; 89 
Suffolk, 430 

Suffrage, the right of, 152 
Sugar Act, the, 154 
Sullivan, John, defeats Indians, 200 
Sumner, Charles, 446; 453; 466 
Sumter, Thomas, 192 
Supreme Court, created, 229-230 
Swanandael, settlement, 88 
Sweden, South Company of, 80 
Swedes, the, 80; 135; 147 

Taft, W. H., governor of Philippines, 

541; elected president, 558 
Talladega, battle with Indians, 260 
Talleyrand, 246; Louisiana Purchase, 

253 
Taney, Roger B., 307; chief-justice in 

Dred Scott case, 360 
Tariff, the, 154; 162 



Tariff, protective, the first, 233; of 
abominations, 294; Democrats advo- 
cate reduction, 340; Democrats re- 
duce, 344-345; mentioned, 475; 476; 
Cleveland's message on, 500; Mc- 
Kinley bill, 509; Wilson bill, 519; 
reciprocity, 557; reform in both plat- 
forms, 558; Congress increases pro- 
tection, 560; Underwood bill, 561 

Tarleton, Banastre, 192; 193 

Taxation, 154; 162 

Taylor, Richard, defeats Banks, 416 

Taylor, Zachary, in Mexican war, 341- 
343; elected president, 346; death, 
350 

Tecumseh, defeated at Tippecanoe, 262; 
killed in battle of Thames, 266 

Tennessee, admitted, 238; secedes, 383 

Tenure of Office Act, passed, 456; re- 
pealed, 494 

Territory south of the Ohio, 237 

Teutons, 3; 7 

Texas, claims to, yielded to Spain, 273; 
not settled for slavery, 334; immi- 
grants to, 335; revolution, 335-336; 
annexed, 337-338; boundary, 341; 
secedes, 372 

Thames river, battle of the, 266 

Thatcher, Oxenbridge, 155 

Thomas, George H., defeats Zollicoffer, 
408; at Chickamauga, 420; defeats 
Hood at Nashville, 436 

Thomas, J. B., in regard to ISIissouri 
Compromise, 286 

Thwaites, R. G., quoted, 119 ftn. 

Ticonderoga, defeat of Abcrcrombie, 
129; taken by Amherst, 130; taken 
by Allen, 171 

Tilden, S. J., candidate for presidency, 
464 

Tohopeka, battle with Indians, 270 

Toleration, rehgious, 61; 65; 72; 84; 
140-141 

Tomochichi, 72 

Tompkins, Daniel, elected vice-presi- 
dent, 272 

Toombs, R., 370 

Topeka constitution, 362 

Tories, 170; 187-188; 192; 199; 200; 
confiscation of property of, 202; 216 

Toscanelli, P., 31 

Totten, J. G., 376 

Townshend Acts, 162; 164 

Trent affair, see Great Britain 



xlvi 



INDEX 



Trenton, battle, 178 

Trimble, Isaac R., at Gettysburg, 431 

Tripoli, war with, 259 

Troup, George M., trouble with Creeks, 

293 
Turner, Nat., insurrection, 322 
Tyler, Daniel, at battle of Manassas, 

387 
Tyler, John, elected vice-president, 330; 

becomes president, 331; troubles with 

Congress, 332; cabinet resigns, 332; 

vetoes national bank bill, 332; favors 

admitting Texas, 336; presides over 

Peace Conference, 370-371 

Underground railways, 349 
Underwood, Oscar W., 561 
Union, the quality of the, 326-328 
Utah admitted, 495 ftn. 
Utrecht, treaty of, 124 

Valley Forge, 182 

Van Burcn, Martin, 2g8; elected presi- 
dent, 308; defeated by Harrison, 330; 
candidate of Free Soil party, 346 

Van Dorn, E., at luka, 417 

Van Rennselaer estate, 79 

Van Rennselaer, Stephen, at battle of 
Queenstown, 265-266 

Venango, 125 

Venezuela, revolution in, 276; diplo- 
macy concerning, 522 

Vermont admitted, 237 

Vera Cruz taken by Scott, 343 

Verrazano, John, 36 

Versailles, treaty of, 202 

Vesey plot, 322 

Vespucius, Americus, 38 

Vicksburg, campaigns against, 412-414; 
surrenders to Grant, 414 

Vincennes taken by Clark, 199-200 

Virginia, settled, 50; instructs for in- 
dependence, 175; western land claims, 
211 — surrendered, 212; ratifies Con- 
stitution, 223; secedes, 382 

Virginia Company, 50; 92 

Virginia, plan of Union of, Madison's, 
219; resolutions, colonial, 163; reso- 
lutions in regard to state rights, 246 

Virginia and Monitor, 423 

Walker, John G., in Texas, 440 
Walker, R. J., governor of Kansas Ter- 
ritory, 362 



Walker's ''Making of the Nation", 
quoted, 262 

Wallace, Lew, at Monocacy, 437; in 
Texas, 440 

Warner, Seth, at Ticonderoga, 171 

Warren, Admiral, 124 

Warren, G. K., repulses Hill at Bristoe, 
432; action at Five Forks, 441 

Washington, George, beyond the Ohio, 
125; at Fort Necessity, 126; with 
Braddock, 12S; in Virginia assembly, 
163; elected commander-in-chief, 172; 
drives British from Boston, 177; op- 
poses Howe at New York, 177; re- 
treats through New Jersey, 178; 
victories at Trenton and Princeton, 
178; sends reenforcements to Schuj'- 
ler, 179; defeated at Brandywine and 
Germantown, 181; attacks Clinton 
at Monmouth, 184; at Yorktown, 
197; president Constitutional Con- 
vention, 218; elected president, 226; 
character, 226-227; inauguration, 
228; approves bill for national bank, 
236; reelected without opposition, 
238 ftn.; neutrality proclamation, 
240; establishes anti-third term pre- 
cedent, 242; farewell address, 243; ap- 
pointed commander-in-chief, 244 

Washington City, taken by British, 269 

Wasp and Frolic, 266 

Watauga Association, 198 

Watertown, 109 

Waterways Commission, Inland, 548 

Wayne, Anthony, storms Stony Point, 
185; defeats Indians at Maumee, 238 

Weather Bureau, established, 468 

Weaver, J. B., candidate for presidency, 
S14 

Webster-Ashburton treaty, 333 

Webster, Daniel, opposes protective 
tariff, 275; changes position on tariff, 
300; opposes Hayne and state rights, 
301; secretary of state, 332; settle- 
ment of Maine boundary, 333; death, 
353 

West, the, immigration to, 237; 352; 
democratic, 262; developing, 272 

West in 1876, the, development, 475; 
486 

West, Joseph, 68; 69; 70 

West, Thomas, 88 

Western land claims: see Land Claims, 
Western. 



INDEX 



xlvii 



Westminster, treaty of, 81 

West Point, 185 

West Virginia, 385 

Weyler, General, 533; recalled, 534 

Weymouth, George, 46 

Wheeler, Joseph, at San Juan, 538 

Wheeler, W. A., vice-president, 465 

Whig Party, from National Repubhcans, 
308; elect Harrison, 330-331; break 
with Tyler, 332; nominate Clay, 337; 
elect Taylor, 346; nominate Scott, 

350 
Whisky insurrection, 234 
White House, Va., 426 
White, John, on Roanoke Island, 46 
Whitney, Eli, invents cotton gin, 283 
Whittier, J. G., anti-slavery poet, 322; 

and publisher, 323 
Wickes, Lambert, 186 
Wigfall, L. T., 377 

Wilkinson, James, in regard to Burr, 258 
William and Mary College, 60; 140 
William and Marj', monarchs, g6 
William the Conqueror, 6 
Williams, Roger, 102 
Williamsburg, engagement, 423 
Wilmington, Del., 80 
Wilmington, N. C, taken by Federals, 

40s 
Wilmot proviso, 345 
Wilson-Bryan peace proposal, 563 
Wilson, W. L., tariff bill, sig 
Wilson, Woodrow, quoted, 239; 310; 

527; 528; 560; elected president, 560 



Winchester, action, 425; battle, 431; 

battle, 438 
Winslow, Edward, commissioner, lor 
Winthrop, John, 107 
Wirt, W. H., attorney-genera!, 272 
Wisconsin admitted, 347 
Wise, H. A., 314 
Withdrawal of troops from the South, 

476 
Wolfe, James, at Quebec, 130-133 
Wright, Francis, 320 
Wright, Silas, declines nomination for 

vice-presidency, 337 
Writs of assistance, 154; 162 
Wyatt, Thomas, 54; 56 
Wycliffe, John, g 
Wj'oming, massacre at, 200 
Wyoming, state of, admitted, 405 ftn. 

X. Y. Z. affair, 243 

Yale College, 60; 140 

Yeamans, John, 66; 68-6g 

Yeardley, George, 53 

Yellow Tavern, cavalry battle, 434 

York, Canada, burned, 266 

York, duke of, 80; 82; 83; 86 

York river, 423; 426 

Yorktown, surrender of Cornwallis, 

ig7; McClellan's siege of, 423 
Ysleta, mission founded at, 43 

Zollicoffer, Felix K., 408 



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